Hanging All Her Hopes On The Stars
by TheLadyKellet
Summary: Garrus is glad to have his best friend, John Shepard back from the dead. But who exactly is Jane? What does she mean to John? And what will she mean to Garrus? Sibling Shepard story. FemShep/Garrus with side romance as well. Starts during ME2
1. Chapter 1

Alright darlings I'm back. Here is a new story that has nothing to do with my others at all. I was inspired by all the wonderful sibling stories. So I had a few ideas, got them down. And now we have a story. I will be working on this as well as 'Close' at the same time so updates my be a little spacy. And as always pop over to my livejournal to keep up with thought process as well as ideas. I always love your feedback and help.

_Disclaimer: Sadly the fate dose not shine on me enough to give me Mass Effect and all it's glory._

The sound of the rifle in his hands was a reassuring one. Almost as reassuring as the sight of another merc hitting the ground. Time had completely slipped past him as he waiting for a change, something to come along that was different, something other than point, shoot, reload, repeat. It felt like years, decades even, since the last of his team had fallen. And then just when he was at the end and he was ready to face his team in whatever afterlife awaited him fate had pulled the rug out from under him. And that pull came in the form of John Shepard, savior of the Citadel and his closest friend. Of course he would come back from the dead. And of course he would show up in that last second to save the day. That was just how John was, the hero of all heroes. Garrus laughed at himself thinking that John almost sounded like some hero from a vid, which they had already made and was quite popular on the Citadel.

The moment found Garrus relaxing at the moment as John and his team make their way back to him after securing the lower area. Of course they were taking a moment to search the bodies for extra clips and the rare medi-gel. That was fine for him, it was the first time that Garrus was able to rest between rounds of mercs without having to worry about a surprise attack. John was there to watch his back. Just like the old times.

Taking a breath he let his eyes shut and his head fall back to rest on the wall behind him. It felt like a lifetime ago that he was able to simply rest. His mind wondered to the men that he had lost. Each one a member of his team and who he considered his friends. Each one betrayed by the one who deceived them all. Sidonis. He was to blame for it all. And when he found him again he would correct the mistake of trusting him. Each member of his team lost had their name on a bullet meant for that bastard.

"You look like shit spread thin on a burnt piece of toast..." Garrus opened one eye to look up at John as he stood with arms crossed and a smirk on his face. Garrus let an exhausted chuckle leave him before he opened his other eye and looked up at Shepard fully.

"That sounds like a beyond disturbing analogy. But if it is as bad as I sounds then yes, I probable do look that way. Feel ten times worse than that." He chuckled again and took another look at his friend. This was the first time he was able to fully study his recently dead friend. Despite being dead for two years he looked the same as he always had. Hair that was buzzed short was a brown color with a small hint of red to it. Eyes that danced with amusement and joy, but in the current situation held a small amount of worry, were the same honey yellow in color. He was a built man that seemed to radiate a friendly atmosphere. He had the ability to draw people to him without even really trying. The only new features were the scars that traveled across his face. He made a mental note to ask him about that later.

John moved over to sit against the wall next to Garrus. His smile never really faded, making Garrus feel a slight bit more relieved, same old John. His close friend leaned slightly and bumped Garrus's shoulder with his own.

"You wanna tell me exactly what happened, Garrus? Why Omega? And how you managed to piss off every merc group on this shit hole of a rock?" There was something about John that he always knew how to get him to smile, even in times like this. Sighing once more, feeling more exhausted after every sigh, he looked up to a blank space above them.

"I thought that I could good. Be a leader like you were, or are, whatever. You were gone and I guess I felt I owed it to you to try and make a difference. This is as far as I got. Busting bad guys on Omega with a team of random do good-ers." He shook his head as he looked down to his hands. "I screwed up Shepard... I put my trust in the wrong guy. And he as good as killed the whole team. Turned us over to the mercs and drew me away so they could ambush the base."

Garrus shut his eyes as he clinched his fist. It was his fault for trusting the wrong guy. For being foolish enough to think he could be like Shepard. He felt a hand on his shoulder and opened his eyes to look at John. He offered him one of his classic Shepard grins.

"Sometimes you can't tell man. I've made plenty of mistakes. You're lucky enough to have not seen many of them." He chuckled slightly and Garrus returned his smile, even if he didn't fully believe him. The sound of footsteps brought them out of their discussion as Shepard's teammates entered. He rose to his feet and offered Garrus a hand to pull himself up as he addressed the women.

"Miranda, Kasumi. Did you guys find anything?" Garrus looked over the two women that John had brought along. One seemed to be a big Cerberus fan, sporting their logo on her chest. The air about her said she thought herself better than everyone around her. The other woman seemed mysterious and eager for whatever came next. A smile crossed her lips from under her hood as she spoke to John. In his opinion, Garrus preferred the hooded girl way over the walking Cerberus doll.

"Not much really, a lot of extra clips, a couple of medi-gels... oh and a datapad you are going to want to see..." From somewhere on her person she slipped out a datapad and held it out to John. He raised his brow as he looked to the two women. The brunette spoke now, her voice sound matter of fact like.

"John... I believe it is referring to Jane..."

Jane? Wasn't that a fairly common human name? Who the hell was she talking about? Garrus turned to look at John to ask these questions but stopped as he watched the color drain from Johns face. For the first time Garrus had ever seen, John Shepard looked scared. Like really scared. He watched as John quickly closed the gap between him and the datapad, pulling it quickly from the girls grasp. As he read it Johns face went from a slight bit of horror to anger. Pure rage. Garrus took a moment to look the girls over, taking notice that the hood woman seemed to somber up, the smile gone from her face while the white clad woman seemed a little upset as well, like someone had whipped their nose in her hair.

Garrus took a step closer to look over Johns shoulder. His friend seemed lost in thought so instead of interrupting he simply read the datapad himself. Right away he could tell that it was from one of the Blue Sun's fallen members.

_'Clada- Shepard has served her purpose. Once Archangel has been eliminated, return to the base and get rid of her. There can not be a trail.'_

Shepard? But he was right here. Looking back over the datapad and reread it. It was then he took notice of the important detail. Her. Was it John's mother? Or maybe a cousin? Looking to his friend he raised a brow plate. "John?"

Golden honey eyes seemed to have darken as he looked up to his turian friend. He quickly slipped the datapad into a safe place as he readied his gun.

"Garrus I know that its asking a lot but once we get you out of this shit storm of a cluster fuck do you mind taking me by the Blue Sun's base? They have something that belongs to me and I plan on taking it back."

Garrus smiled as he readied his rifle, looking down towards the only thing that had been his lifeline the past few days. "Hell I've been up here for Spirits knows how long letting them crash my party. I'll gladly give a few more hours away as long as I can return the favor." He smirked as he looked up towards John. He could see the small smile and thank you that apparent on his face. He would ask John about this later as well. He saw a sit down with a great amount of information swap in their future.

Just as they were about to get ready to move out a sound had them halt their steps. Turning towards the window they noticed Blue Sun mercs dropping in on ropes as well as a large gun ship. They all ducked into cover as John began spitting out curses, some Garrus had never heard before.

"They fixed the damn gunship. Ready for this?" The women coursed their readies as Garrus smirked to his friend and loaded his heat sink in his rifle. "Just like old times, huh Shepard?"


	2. Chapter 2

Wowy zowy, holy cowy... Already this story has so many little stalkers and it's just getting going. You guys make me feel all tingly in my toes and in my nose. Thank you to all of you who have already said you will still around to see what happens. It makes my creative juice flow thicker and faster, in a non sticky nasty way.

For those who have not read my other story you are not aware of the fact that I am looking for a beta reader but while they are alluding me I will still do my best to post stories that make since and have the least amount of error to them. SO bare with me until I find a crazy side-kick.

_Disclaimer: I have asked Bio-ware for the Mass Effect rights for my birthday. Cross your fingers for me._

If a varen took a shit and let a pyjak roll in it, then the pyjak was chewed and spit out that is what Garrus felt like as he sat up in the med-bay. A groan was the first means of communication he could muster as he looked around the families yet new med-bay. Had he died? Is heaven really some form of the Normandy remade new? He sighed as a hand came to his face timidly, lightly touching the bandage and scarring that felt like it was barely hanging on. He bit back a hiss as the pain registered. If this was heaven then they had one hell of a humor, making him feel pain and being this banged up.

The past day events hit him like a krogan doing a belly flop on a hanar. The memory of his team lost. The betrayal of once of his most trusted team mates. How he had been ready to join them in a last fight of blazing glory. Then John Shepard appeared like a vid hero, back from the dead. The datapad that seemed to be connected to John in a deep way. Then the last thing he remembered was the gunship launching a rocket straight to his face.

With a glance around he pushed himself off the med-bay bed and made his way towards the door. Pausing he looked over himself and determined that other than his face he was in perfect health. Well as perfect as one could be after days of no sleep or food on top of exhaustion. Looking towards the door again he gave a small nod. "Now to find Shepard..."

"Commander Shepard is currently in the debriefing room."

Garrus had to admit he was a little taken back by the voice that echoed out of no where. Looking around he determined that he was indeed still alone. "Thank you random voice..." He shook his head slightly as he made his way out of the med-bay. Pausing in the hall he realized there were no stairs to lead him upwards. Turning his head he looked to the elevator for a second before pushing the summon button.

Once the lift arrived Garrus stepped in and looked over his options for his destination. Finding CIC he aloud the ever so slow lift to take him up a floor. He really believed their was some galaxy wide code that all elevators were to take more time than needed to reach the next floor. He could have claimed the outside of the ship quicker than the elevator.

As he stepped out of the elevator at his destination he was greeted with a whole mass of humans, most turned to look him over. And with a small cringe he noticed they all sported Cerberus logos. His was about to step back into the lift to go hide out somewhere less... overly human, when a small red headed human stepped up with a large smile. The way she looked him over made him feel like a dish of some rare human desert, it was slightly disturbing.

"Officer Vakarian. I'm Kelley Chambers. If you are look for Commander Shepard he is juster this way. She held her hand out to the room to her side. "If you go straight through there and take the first side door you find you will be an a small hallway outside the debriefing room. You will find him there." She offered him a small smile which he returned, but not as excitedly.

"Thanks for your help." Turning away he followed her defections and found the small hallway, but from Johns raised voice he was sure he could have found it once he neared the hall. Stepping up he listened to the conversation before he entered.

"Commander we have to go after the doctor now. He is a key to our mission and we need his help. It was unwise to let you go after Archangel first. It is even more unwise to put it off further." This was the woman that John had brought with, the Cerberus fan.

"Miranda if our guess is right they are talking about Jane. I can't leave her in their hands any longer. As soon as I know Garrus will be okay and he can tell me how to get there we will be on our way." There was a pause in Johns firm rant and he was sure that woman was about to protest further but her first word wasn't even finished before John cut her off. "And that is my final word Lawson."

The pause seemed like a good one, so Garrus took the opportunity to step through the door. He was greeted by not only a fuming Miranda and a grinning John but another Cerberus fan, a dark skin man that looked to him with what appeared to be amazement.

"Damn, he is one tough son of a bitch." Garrus could help but chuckle slightly at the dark skinned mans comment as he looked up to John who in turn looked him over. He knew John looking him over to make sure he was in fighting condition but was also making sure he was alright as a friend. Once John was sure he gave him a nod and smile as he moved over to him.

"Alright buddy. Once you tell me how to get into the Blue Sun base I want you to rest and be ready for the next mission." As John stopped in front of him Garrus gave a small chuckle as he rolled his shoulder.

"Sorry Shepard but I'm going with you. I'm sure you took out that danm gunship down but there is a bit more payback I need to offer. I'm going to help you get in there and cause some real hell. Besides if you can come back from the dead, I can take a rocket to the face and still be ready to fight."

John laughed as he clapped his friend on the shoulder. "Yeah but at least I had two years sto recover from my death. You've only had an hour or so." It was Johns way of giving him one last out if he wanted it. To bad he didn't.

"Yeah well we can't help the fact that I'm more of a bad ass than you are." He chuckled and regretted it as soon as he did. Placing a hand on his face he settled for a smirk. "Just don't make me laugh Shepard and we will be just fine."

John laughed as he returned the smirk and crossed his arms. "Well I may not be able to avoid that.. But if we keep you away from any mirrors we may be able to keep you from laughing at your ugly mug." They both shared a laugh before John looked over towards the dark skinned man. "Jacob, get ready. We are heading out as soon as we get Garrus his gun back."

A few hours later found the three men outside of the Blue Sun's main base. It really wasn't that hard to find, anyone on Omega could point you towards it. It was just that no one really wanted to. It was foolish to try and take on the base on any normal day. But today wasn't any normal day. Garrus had taken out a majority of the gang and with Shepard's help had taken out the Omega leader. So to say they were understaffed was an understatement.

So it was almost to easy to get inside and start to clear out those that stood in their way. Garrus almost smiled at how easy he feel into that same old pattern with John. Back on the SR-1 John had taken him on almost all of his missions, always there to cover his back from a distance as he charged in to take on the enemy head on. Here they feel into the same song and dance and Garrus was relieved as well as slightly surprised by how well Jacob slipped into the dance as well. Almost like he had been there, taking Ash's or Wrex's spot with easy.

As they made it to the their floor of the base they found a hall of doors, all heavily locked and plenty of bodies already dead. John raised a brow as he looked over the bodies, Blue Suns as well as what looked to be civilians. "Looks like someone took all our fun..." He looked to be mockingly disappointed but Garrus could see the worry hidden beneath his humor. John moved closer to look over the bodies then gave a small nod.

"Spread out. Garrus start at the other end. Jacob stand watch at the door. We don't need any surprises." Both men offered a nod and a reply of their own.

"Right away Commander."

"Sure thing Shepard."

Garrus made his way down the hall slipping his sniper rifle to his back, switching it for his assault rifle. With it at the ready he started at the furthest door back. He kicked the door open, it being one of the doors still locked. He panned his sight around the room, his gun at the ready. Nothing. Stepping back he moved to the door across from his current door. This one was already slightly opened so no kick was needed as he gently pushed the door open with the barrel of his gun. Once more a great big nothing. The rooms were all alike, bare spaces with only a small mat on the floor with a blanket tossed on top.

The three rooms he check after that were the same as the first two, just as bare and just as empty. He was begging to wonder if maybe the Jane person was even here anymore. The order may have been sent before the final push on him and the girl could already be dead. He didn't want to dwell on what that would mean for John. Whoever she was she was very important to him.

As he neared the sixth door he noticed that it was another broken door. So he gently pushed the door open and took a step into the room, his weapon trained on the floor. His eyes scanned the room and noticed that this one was slightly different than the others. While it did have the mat on the floor the blanket was tied around the neck of a dead merc in the middle of the ground. Against the wall by the mat hung a chain with an open cuff laying on the mat. He took another step towards the body in effort to examine it when he heard a click and felt cool metal against the side of his face.

"Another step and I'll blow the fuck out of your face."

Well fuck. Garrus paused in his step, hold his hands up, moving his finger from the trigger of the rifle. Tilting his head slightly he tried to see the person behind the voice but could only see the gun, the figure to far behind him.

"Your buddy didn't stand a chance, what makes you think you will fair better?" Garrus realized suddenly that this prisoner thought him a Blue Sun. And who could really blam them. From the back a turian in blue armor did look a lot like a member of the merc gang. He let out a small chuckle as he tried to look again.

"Sorry to disappoint you but I'm the exact opposite of a Blue Sun. See? No logo." He slowly raised his hand to tap the front of his armor. He wondered slightly if he should tell this person that he was Archangel, just to establish some credibility but then thought against it. That life was dead now, the news that Archangel had been killed already spreading through Omega.

He heard steps as the figure moved around towards his front to look over his armor. As they came into sight he let out a small gasp at what he saw.

Although the figure was a female which caused her to be far smaller she shared so much of the same appearance as John. Her eyes, although were narrowed, were still the same wide and full eyes. But where Johns were a honey gold this girls were a light blue, almost gray color. Her hair was pulled back from her shoulders, with a small amount covering her forehead, and was that color between blonde and red just like Johns. Her face and the half of her arms that were not covered were covered in dirt and blood, some of which was her own from a few cuts over her eyebrow and on her arms. This had to be who they were looking for.

Garrus offered her a small smile as he tilted his head towards the door to call out for John. "Shepard." The girl narrowed her eyes more and trained her gun back to his face.

"How do you know my name, if you aren't with the Suns? They are the only ones that knew my name." Garrus's eyes grew once more as he looked to the girl. He was right, this was who John was looking for. Footsteps brought their attention towards the door.

"Garrus what the hell is taking you so long. You didn't find any new mods did you? I always told you wait until-" He stopped his sentence as he rounded the corner to a gun that was now pointed at him. The two Shepard's eyes meet for a second before the female lowered her gun slightly.

"John... Is that really you?" She took a step forward letting the gun point to his feet, a sign that she didn't fully trust the situation yet. John laughed As he held out his arms to her.

"Do you really think an imposter would have my dashing good looks? Or a clone have my daring wit?" He chuckled as he watched the girl for a second. Her eyes looked him over a few times before the gun clattered to the floor and the launched herself around Johns neck. He smiled as he returned the hug.

"I missed you Jane..." She laughed slightly as she pushed away from him and punched his shoulder lightly. "Missed me? You ass, you've been gone for two years. You have a shit ton of explaining to do..."

John laughed again as he nodded. Garrus took this moment to step over towards them slightly raising his hand up in front of his chest. "I would like some explanations as well." John looked up and nodded to his friend with a smile.

"Let's get back to the Normandy first, then we can sit and braid each others hair and swap gossip." His laugh was shared with the girl as well as Garrus. John kept his hand around the girl as he held out his other hand towards Garrus.

"Jane this is Garrus, my best buddy. Garrus this is Jane, my sister." Name smiled as she nodded towards Garrus in greeting, which he returned.

"It's nice to finally meet you Garrus. John use to talk about you all the time in his letters. I felt a high amount of bro-mance coming from it." She laughed slightly as John bumped her with his shoulder and rolled his eyes. Garrus chuckled as he shook his head.

"I would love to say the same but this is the first time I have heard about you." She nodded as looked over towards John, who seemed a little embarrassed.

"That's pretty normal. With mother and John being so high up in the Alliance I didn't want their standing to effect any of my training or placement. Its hard to prove yourself in any situation when everyone compares you to your brave Commander brother. So I simple used another family name." She raised her shoulders slightly as she looked up to John who gave her a cheeky grin. It almost seemed like he wanted to say sorry but really didn't feel that way. John was proud of his task and would never take them back but Garrus was sure he didn't want to make things hard on his sister.

Steps behind them caused them all to be ready for trouble but relaxed as Jacob came into view. He looked at John with a nod. "We better move out Commander, unless you want some Blue Sun company." He paused as his eyes feel on Jane. A smile grew one his face and he held out a hand. "Hello, my name is Jacob Taylor."

His grin was very leering as his eyes looked Jane over. She returned his smile with one of her own as she leaned forward to shake his hand. "I'm Jane Shepard. Nice to meet you." Garrus watched John as his eyes narrowed slightly as he pulled Jane back towards him. Garrus laughed to himself as he looked over the pair. A protective older brother John. That was something he had never seen before. Jane looked to her bother then rolled her eyes and held out a hand.

"I agree, we should get our asses out. But before we do, anyone want to lend me a gun?" She tilted her head towards the one on the floor. "That one is out of clips..."

Garrus just barely kept his mouth from falling open as he looked from the gun back to the woman who was accepting her brothers hand gun before she looked it over. "You threatened me with an empty gun?"

She chuckled as she looked down the sight before letting her eyes drift towards him, pure tease in her eyes. "It's not always about having more firepower. Sometimes it takes an act and a little lie to scare the shit out of your opponent."

Garrus stared for a minute before his mandibles twitched into a smirk. He watched as John moved out of the room with Jacob on his heels. Taking somewhat small steps he feel in beside Jane as they moved down the hall, eyes on their surroundings.

"Just so you know, I wasn't scared... I could have taken you down if I really wanted to." He smirked as he chanced a glance to her. She returned the glance, letting her eyes meet his for a moment before she laughed and looked back to her front.

"We may just have to test that theory someday soon, turian. Well will just have to see about that." She laughed slightly as she took a step forward and he dropped back to guard the rear. He really hopped that she would come along with John. Because if she was anything like John, which Garrus could tell she was, this suicide mission just might turn out to be entertaining along the way.


	3. Chapter 3

Alright guys here we go again. I'm sorry for the slowness of me but school started this week... And I have 12 forms due by tomorrow and I only have 5 so I'm locked myself in the studio. I should have time tonight to get a chapter for each of my stories down and shipped off to betas. So sit tight I'm not go I promise.

_Disclaimer: If I owned Bioware or even Mass Effect I would have Brandon Keener voice over everything in my life... Always..._

Garrus sat at the table in the debriefing room with John. The trip out of the Blue Sun base had been quick and easy. And with a simple stop at the hole in the wall that Jane had called home to collect her things they had found themselves back at the Normandy. John and Garrus had went straight to the debriefing room while Jane went to shower and change.

While they waited for Jane Garrus told John the story of how he had found himself on Omega and how he became Archangel. It had been a somewhat short story, Garrus still not ready to go into a great amount of detail. So now they sat and waited for Jane, once she got their they would both get Johns explanation so he didn't have to go through it twice.

Garrus let his gaze move to John who now sat in thought, and if Garrus knew John he was thinking over what he had just told him. Not wanting to cause his friend distress on his behalf he decided to distract him.

"So a sister, huh?"

John looked up to Garrus and it took a minute before a smile spread across his face and he looked back towards hi hands. "Yeah, a little sister. She is almost two years younger than me."

Garrus nodded in effort to show he understood. Shifting his weight he moved to lean forward on the table. "So why haven't I heard about her before this?"

John raised his shoulders slightly as he looked back towards his friend. "It never really mattered before now. She was still in school during our hunt for Saren so she really didn't come up in conversation."

Garrus raised a brow slightly as he looked towards his friend again. "School? I didn't think that human were in school that long..." If that was true then why wasn't John still in school? Did he skip it in favor of the military?

John laughed slightly and shook his head. "First she was in the military with me. Joined right when she hit 18 and made mother proud. She worked up the ranking fast and was competing close to my standing. Then a few years after she joined she dropped out and decided to go to medical school. She took the long way too, learning not only human but xeno-biology as well."

"That's because I didn't want to treat someone based on the color of their blood." The door opened as she spoke and stepped into the room. As the doors shut behind her she pointed over her shoulder to the door. "That thing is why to easy to hear through. You should really look into sound proofing it."

Garrus took a moment to look over Johns sister now that she was cleaned up. At the Blue Sun base she had been dressed in an oversized shirt and pair of pants and covered in blood and dirt. Now that she was clean he could really see the similarity between her and John.

Her hair seemed more lighter now that it was free of all the grim and the top half was pulled back to to be held back at the nape of her neck, the rest of it curls to just below the shoulders. Her eyes that light blue that seemed to not be able to decide if they wanted to be gray or not.

Now Garrus didn't have a human fetish or anything but he had been around humans enough to know what they found to be attractive, and he had to say she was a fine example. Narrow waist that feed into sturdy hips. She held muscles in the right spot showing that she was good in a fight. He was unsure still though on what humans found to be the best size of the female chest since it seemed to vary between males, and some females. Her chest was not overly huge but it was clear that they were there.

He now took a moment to look at what she wore. Half of her neck down to her hips was covered with what looked to be under armor, tight black fabric that fit like a second skin. Her arms were bare all the way to her shoulder, showing off a small cluster of stars tattooed on one of her shoulders. She wore a vest that looked military issued that stopped right under her chest and was zipped to right below her collar bone. Around her neck over the black fabric hung a doubled up silver chain. Hanging from it were a pair of dog tags as well as what looked to be turian tags which cause Garrus to raise a brow plate.

Her hips were covered by a pair of shorts that matched her vest and went about one third of the way down her thigh. Her feet were covered by black laced up boots. Around her waist was a belt that held a blade strapped in the back at the small of her back. Garrus almost laughed as he looked at the blade. It had been a while since anyone he had seen brought a blade into battle. He gave her a small nod as she moved over to jump on the table near John, looking to him.

"So were you really dead or were you on some secrecy mission and could say?" Garrus had to smile at her frankness about the matter. His attention turned to John, also interested in the answer.

John raised a hand to rub the back of his neck. "Yeah I was dead, spaced out of the old Normandy. But Cerberus needed someone to run around and save the galaxy so they spent two years putting me back together and back to life."

Garrus gave a nod, accepting the impossible and looked to Jane who had raised her brow at her brother. "So Cerberus Frankenstein-ed you... I guess I'll let them have a point for that. So the plan is to what?"

He smiled and nodded, leaning back in his chair. "Put a team together and fight the Collectors. They are abducting human colonist without a trace."

She raised her brow slightly before jumping off the table. "Well I'm coming with you. You might need a field medic."

John now shook his head as he sat forward. "Cerberus has put a list together. I came to Omega to pick up to of the members. Garrus.." He looked over to Garrus who gave a nod. He was glad John didn't state that at first John didn't know he was picking up Garrus, but Archangel needed to die with his men. No reason to bring him up. "And the other is a medic, a Doctor Solus."

Garrus nodded as he looked to John. "I've heard of him. Kinda crazy guy but a good guy. Has a clinic in the bad part of town." Garrus was interrupted by Jane giving a small snort.

Jane now placed her hands on her hips and laughed as she looked to John. "You're talking about Mordin, right? Believe me you might want me along simple to translate. I've been working with him at the clinic for a better part of a year now. And sometimes I still have no idea what he is saying." She laughed as her arms rose to cross in front of her in defiance.

John raised his brows to her as he stood, bracing his hands on the table. "You know doctor Solus?" He held his hand up to stop Jane as she opened her mouth to speak. "How about you just fill me in on what the hell you have been doing and why you are on this shit rock. Last I heard you were in the process of being placed on a ship as the assistant medic. What happened?"

Jane gave a small growl as she narrower her eyes. Garrus kept quite, sensing a sibling argument coming along. "You died. That's what happened. You died and left behind everyone. Left me. I tried to stay with the Alliance but I couldn't do it. They started to plaster your face all over the recruitment centers, 'Join the Alliance and save the galaxy just like John Shepard.' It wouldn't have been so bad if they hadn't of dragged everything you did through the mud. Said it was all Saren and you must have been indoctrinated like he was into believing there are spooky big bad reapers. It was just to much to bare. So I left."

John seemed to have cooled a little as he sat back in the chair looking to his hands. "But why Omega, Jane? It dangerous."

She gave a small laugh as she raised her shoulder. "A place swarming with scum that won't be missed, like Blood Pack members, and it was around here that people had rumors of what happened to you. Joker told me it wasn't the geth. I wanted answers so I chanced them. After a while it just became my first non ship home, after the answers became fewer and fewer."

Garrus nodded and felt it was okay for him to speak. "Yeah it was about the same for me. Couldn't take C-Sec anymore and all the bullshit the Council was spitting out. So I came to the place I could make a difference."

Jane smirked and gave a small chuckle. "You can try all you want on Omega but you can make a difference. The only people that were making some kind of dent was Archangels team." Her eyes moved to the ground, sadness apparent in them as she gave a sad little laugh. "But they are all dead now. It seems if you try to dent Omega, you get dented right back."

Garrus had to swell a little at her mention of him making a difference but then deflated slight  
y at the mention of his teams death. He was about to say something before John stepped in and spoke first.

"Jane... You say that a little personally... Did you know Archangel?" His eyes moved to Garrus who gave him a small shake. If he had known John sister was on the rock would he have found her? The answer would be hell yes. He might not have made himself known but he sure as hell would have made sure that she was safe. Jane smiled and pulled him out of thought as she spoke.

"No not Archangel. One of his members I knew. He was one of the only ones on Omega who knew who I am. He came to me apparently right before he started to work with Archangel for a quick look over. He was a kind guy and didn't share a lot. He started to come by and visit every so often to talk since I knew no one on Omega but for Mordin. He talked about how he got a job he really liked and was doing good. It didn't take long for me to piece together what was going on. Visits becoming few and more cautious. When he would come he would sometimes be injured."

She laughed slightly as as looked to the floor with a sad smile. "When I confronted him about it he was so in denial it was almost funny. But I got it out of him. He knew me, knew who I was. He knew he could trust me." She gave a small sigh as she looked up to John who gave her a small reassuring smile.

"How did he know your name? That's not something you normally broadcast. Did you start going by it again?"

She smiled as she raised a hand to run through the lose part of her hair. "No I still keep it on the down low. He found me one night trashed in Afterlife. It was your birthday so I was celebrating." She raised a hand in a mocking toast. "I told him that you had died after saving the galaxy. Talked about how someone so mighty could be snuffed out by a simple thing like a hole. He figured it out real easy. And I guess it didn't take those around me long either. I really wasn't keeping to quite about it."

She looked away from them and put her hands on the table. "The Blue Suns came for me one night after I was walking home from Mordin's clinic. At first I thought they needed me to fix up the holes Archangel was putting in them. But they kept me even after I stabbed one of their leading guys in the neck. So I assumed it was because of who I was but I was wrong again. Just a few days ago they came in and said once they finished taking out Archangel and his team I would have served my use and would be disposed of once they were all back from the final push. So it seems they found out about my friendship and wanted to get information from me. Or hell even use me to get in I guess." She gave a small huff as she looked to John and Garrus.

Garrus gave her a small smile as he processed her story. She knew one of his men? He couldn't figure out which one. There were a few that were sociable and could be friendly. And right up until things started to get heavy they were all free to do as they please on their own time. So it could have been any of them really. He looked to John who seemed to be in thought. Finally he spoke as he placed his fist clasped together in from of his face and elbows on the table.

"Jane you can come with us to pick up the doctor. After that we will have to see if there is problem with you coming along or not. So we will have to see about that."

Garrus stood and stretched slightly. "When do we move out Shepard?" John shook his head as he looked up towards Garrus. "Sorry Garrus but not this time. Doctor Solus is in a quarantine area sealed off to a plague that infects everyone but for humans. I can't risk you this early in the mission."

Garrus was about to say something to argue but a small hand on his arm stopped him. He looked down to Jane who was smiling to her brother. "When I was taken Mordin was close to a cure. Knowing him it should be done. If you want him with us like you use to say he always was thapen it should be fine. Its slow so he would really feel all the effects until he has been in it for over 24 hours."

Garrus couldn't help but smile at the girls help. He looked to John with a smirk and a tilt of the head. "Come on Shepard, if I can catch a rocket with my face I'm sure I can handle a cough."

John chuckled as he shook his head, holding up his hands. "Okay okay you can come along. We will move out in an hour."

Jane smiled and slowly pulled her hand away from Garrus, who had forgotten it was there. "Good that gives me enough time to go say hi to Joker." She turned to go but was stopped now by a turian hand on her arm. She looked to the hand then up to its owner. His mandibles fluttered slightly in unease as he tried to put the understanding he felt in his gaze.

"The Archangel team member you knew... who was it? His name?" She offered him a sad smile as she looked into his eyes. Slowly she placed a hand on his, gave it a small squeeze before pulling out o his grasp. "Dose it matter? They are all dead now. It won't change anything. It won't bring them back." With that she turned and moved out of the room. They sat for a moment until they heard the outer door shut signaling that she had entered the armory. Garrus turned to look at John.

"You know you should tell her, who you are I mean. You both are feeling a similar pain. It may help. It may also help that she has been there before."

Garrus shook his head as he looked to John. "Maybe John. But not now." John shook his head and stood placing his hands on the table. He stood for a moment before he spoke, face looking towards his hands. "Hey Garrus, can I ask you a favor?"

Garrus almost laughed as he moved over to lean on the table beside John. "Of course Shepard, anything you need."

John nodded as he looked up towards the door. "Will you help me keep an eye on Jane. Not just on the battle field. I mean of course there, she is as hardheaded as I am and likes to be up close with her enemy, she can get a little to focused on one spot and not notice what's going on around her. But also just around. She is trusting like I am, but sometimes she trust to much. Its gotten her in trouble with boys before, picking the wrong ones and getting her heart broke." He sighed as he looked up to John. "I just... if she wants to come with us, which she probable will be, I don't need her being in an emotional state because of a guy. I would like you to help me keep her safe."

Garrus chuckled as he bumped Johns shoulder with his before pushing off the table. "Shepard I understand. I have a little sister too, and I have yet to meet the guy good enough for Sol." He smirked as he moved towards the door. "I'll watch her, don't worry. Now I think I can squeeze in a few calibrations before we have to move out.

John simply laughed as he waved his friend away. As Garrus left he pondered with Jane and John had both said. John had said he she talk to Jane. As he moved into the CIC his eyes moved down towards the cockpit where Jane stood talking to Joker. And as he lived up to his name Jane had her head back laughing at so,etching he had said. Garrus gave a small smile and turned to the elevator. If he ever found her alone, then he would tell her.


	4. Chapter 4

Here we go again my dears. First off I wanted to say what I said on my other story, I have a lot going on right now with school and such. If I get to over loaded I may have to cut down to every other week of posting with my other story getting a chapter in the weeks between. But that's only if I'm pushed to the extreme. I promise that if for some reason unknown to the universe at the moment that I decide to stop the story I will let you know and not disappear forever.

On a much lighter note I want to say yay to all the stalkers I have already acquired on this story with so few chapters. Makes me feel all warm, as you may know... Now I am terrible with the getting back to reviews so I'll do it now. Please bare with me people. Just skip down to the disclaimer if you don't want to read my review replies...

Faith Max: I approve your spidey scenes. You will get more clues to it next chapter. And in regards to John's relationship I am still on the edge of who to pick. But it will be there. And there will be much fun.

My lovely guest with no name: The bro code is very important...

Now to Micheal 13, Mass Effect 3, Sovereign X22, TGee, and shantie1984: Thank you for the ego inflation. I'm glad you are enjoying my darling little story.

_Disclaimer__: __If__I__owned__Bioware__Mass__Effect__would__involve__more__Garrus__... __And__more__reimbursable__moments__with__him__... __And__much__more__happiness__. __Turian__babies__! __But__alas__I__own__them__not__... __TwT__ (- __crying__turian__... __In case__you__were__wondering__...)_

As Garrus made his exit from the airlock both Jane and John were already waiting in the docking area of Omega. They seemed to be in some sort of discussion or argument. Jane stood leaning against the wall, her eyes darting down the hallway towards a man that seemed to be harassing a batarian. John was somewhat hovering over her as he seemed to be reasoning with her. As Garrus made his way towards them he picked up on their conversation.

"Look John, I understand what you are saying. He could be a great asset in your fight but hear what I am saying. I know this man, not personally, but by reputation. I got people of all shapes and sizes and race in the clinic after being in his way when collecting his bounties. He doesn't care about bystanders. If they are in his way he removes them and not at all gently."

John sighed as he reach up to rub his temple. Garrus saw the cogs turn in his mind as he thought. Stepping up next to them his mandibles twitched in a smile.

"Please tell me you're not talking about me. That may hurt my feelings." Jane looked up to him with a smile and she shook her head. Her head then tilted towards the end of the hall to indicate the pair.

"Cerberus sent another dossier. One Zaeed Massani. Ex Blue Sun and all around asshole." Garrus's mandibles clacked slightly in agitation as he looked down the hall towards the man. John looked to his sister with raised brows. After a second he shook his head.

"You sure you aren't saying this because of personal reasons?" Jane glared at her brother as she cocked her hip to the side, her hand finding perch on the bone.

"It is personal. I take every case, where a little asari's face is scarred beyond repair from being pushed into a cooling engine as a certain bounty hunter runs by, personal. And when a woman loses her child because she happened to be walking to the market at the wrong time and get in the middle of a firefight I take it very personal. He's no good John. Trust me on this."

John looked to his sister for a moment before he looked up to Garrus. He was taken aback at first at John's questioning look. He had no say in this matter but as he looked down the hall to the man who seemed to be beating on the unarmed batarian then to Jane who seemed very sure he couldn't help but agree. He looked back to John and gave a small nod to him.

The male sighed as he scratched the top of his head. "Alright you two stay here and wait. I'll brake it to him that Cerberus doesn't need him. It would be better if you two just hang back."

As he turned to leave Jane gave a small huff as she looked towards the man at the end of the hall. "Gladly." Garrus couldn't help but agree once more as John turned and moved towards the man. As he did Garrus let his attention stray to Jane who stood leaning on the wall again. She had her foot braced against the wall bending her knee out. One of her arms was wrapped around her ribs while her other elbow rested on it, her hand up and fingering the turian dog tags around her neck.

Garrus's subharmonics gave a small trill of sorrow as he looked them over. It was turian military rules that only family or mates would receive the tags of a fallen soldier. So she either had a close friend that had no family die or she had once been mated. The latter would be somewhat of a shock he had to admit. Before he could help it his mouth started talking without his brain engaging.

"Who was it?" Her eyes turned to him as her brows rose slightly. She seemed rightfully confused as she stared up to him. Garrus mentally flinched at his brashness and simple stupidity. He tried to think of a way to change his comments intent but nothing came to mind. Finally he broke down and simply reached over to tap the tags between her fingers. It took her a second to realise she had even been holding them. It had to be something she did subconsciously now. A small smile crossed her lips that also held some sorrow as she looked at the tags.

"He was someone very important to me. The first turian I had ever met. My mother was still very anti-turian from the war but I didn't care. That may even have been what drove me to him at first and then I developed a major crush for him. I lost him right after I started my Alliance training."

Garrus flinched slightly as he looked away from her. He knew that humans started training at about 18 so it had been quite some time since she lost him. But she still held his dog tags with pride and grief. He must have been as close to a mate if they weren't mated already. His subharmonics cooed to her in a soft comforting tone as his hand reached out to rest on her shoulder. Her eyes smiled to his as she seemed to know what he was trying to say. But maybe if she had been that close to a turian before she really did know what he was trying to say. After a second he dared to take another step in a direction he really shouldn't.

"What happened to him?" Her eyes lingered on him for a moment before they looked towards John and the bounty hunter. He could feel her body tense and from her silence he began to fear he pushed her to far. When she spoke though it held a hint of anger, not at him but at the cause of her pain.

"Blood Pack. He was on a ship on the way to the Citadel where he was going to meet up with me for a date. We hadn't seen each other for months and I was so excited. It seemed that the Blood Pack believed his ship important and decided to board it. They really didn't get far but far enough where they were trouble. He was a medic you see. An easy target as he helped those that had already been hit."

Garrus couldn't help but look at her profile. She was sad but there was an underline of rage there that he could understand. With what she had said it seemed that mercs tended to ruin her life. First the Blood Pack killing her first 'crush'. Then from what he had seen the Blue Suns took her prisoner and didn't exactly treat her well. And then there was her friend, the one from his team. If it was anyone other than Sidonis then he had been killed along with the rest of the people that seemed to have been foolish enough to follow him. And if it was Sidonis - well that was another matter all together.

He was about to make another comment when John moving back to them caught his attention. Looking up he noticed how uncomfortable John looked but Jane beat him to the question.

"I take it he didn't like that all too much?" She seemed a little happier as she pushed off the wall and turned to face her brother. He laughed as his hand moved to scratch the back of his head.

"Yeah he was pissed that I cut him out of the deal. I still offered him Cerberus's money, which he gladly took. But he still wasn't pleased." He sighed as he shook his head. "Never mind that now. Let's head towards that clinic and grab your doctor buddy."

Jane nodded as she moved to stand at John's side, Garrus taking the other side. With one last nod from him John turned and made his way along the corridors. As they walked Garrus let his eyes move around their surroundings. Omega seemed a little different without his helmet on, which he always wore as Archangel to keep his identity secret. It was the same dirty streets, full of decay that he remembered but now that he wasn't Archangel he somehow felt less important. No one seemed to give him or John a second glance. But who would really want to look at a fully armored pair caring weapons like them? His eyes moved to Jane for a moment and he had to chuckle to himself.

Compared to the two of them she looked so unarmored and unprotected. Nothing she wore could be thought of as armor in any way. And while John and himself carried at least four weapons each, she only carried two pistols on her thighs and an assault rife tucked above her blade. And as she walked all of her weapons were put away, her hands completely free. She didn't look at all a threat, which may be how she survived in Omega unscathed for so long.

As they neared the quarantined area a voice called out from the side of the main walkway. Garrus didn't catch the name but Jane seemed to have heard it and turned to speak with the caller. As John paused she waved him on, indicating that she would catch up. After a second of watching her John finally turned and made his way to the doors, were a turian blocked the way. They both walked up as a human woman complained loudly.

"But you have to let me in. My home is in there and if I don't get in to get my stuff the looters are going to take everything! Please let me in." The turian seemed unfazed as he shook his head at the human woman.

"Look, this whole area is under quarantine. I can't let anyone in or out. I have orders." The human woman continued with her pleading as Garrus and John stopped in front of the turian.

"But humans and vorcha are unaffected by the plague. I can go in and still be alright."

The turian seemed to ignore her now as he looked at them, ready to send away yet another group. "Sorry fellows but this area is off limits. I'm not to let anyone in or out." John was about to speak, and if Garrus knew John it would have been something smooth and convincing, when Jane's voice sounded from behind them as she moved to join them.

"You can't even let in a doctor and her team?" The turian looked her over as she stepped in front of him. His mandibles twitched slightly in annoyance as she rolled her eyes. "My name is Jane Nash. Doctor Jane Nash. I am the assistant to Doctor Mordin Solus. I was removed from the area before a full quarantine was put in effect. I have key elements here that will help him find a cure for this plague. I need to need to get to him, with my team, right now!" The turian was about to speak when she cut him off. "I am well aware of the dangers inside, hence my team. And my turian companion is also aware of the danger the plague represents for him."

The turian stood with his arms crossed as he looked her over. It seemed he was trying to decide whether he could believe her or not. Jane changed her tactics and tried to convince him in a way that Garrus had seen John do on many occasions. She leaned in to glare at the turian who shrank back slightly at her closeness. "Say you don't believe me and keep me locked out. Say that I'm full of shit. Good job. You kept three out of maybe fifty looters away from the quarantine zone. Pat your back! But let's just say you're wrong. Let's say you keep me out but it turns out I'm telling the truth! Then it's on your shoulders. Every person who dies after this moment rests on you big guy." She moved back once more to give him his space. Her arms crossed so she hugged her waist slightly as her shoulders raised, her attention away from him.

"If it was me I couldn't live with myself. But you know, I'm not you. You look like a big tough guy who could take the angry mob that will come after him should they learn you are what stood between them and the cure." The turian seemed about to challenge her threat but then thought better of it. Garrus himself was quite impressed. Smooth talking had to run in the Shepard family! These two together must have been little hellions as children.

Finally the turian stepped to the side to let them go by. John smiled as he moved to go first followed by Garrus. As Jane brought up the rear the turian reached out and grabbed her arm pulling him to her. Garrus paused as John failed to notice.

"If I find out you're telling me a lie human, I will find you and I will end you." Garrus was ready to step in but was halted as Jane offered the turian a warm smile. The other turian seemed to be taken aback as well at how lightly she was taking his threat.

"I assure you, I am telling you the truth. Just go and ask any of those people over there." Her head inclined to where she had been called to moments prior. The turian looked before looking back to her. "I cured the salarian there last month of a terrible fever. He will tell you I work in the clinic." She pulled out of his grasp before she began to move towards Garrus. As she did she spun slightly so she was walking backwards. A small wink and a kiss that was blown was sent to the shocked turian as the door shut. Jane laughed as she turned to stand beside Garrus. He sent her a questioning gaze as she raised her shoulders. "My father always said 'Kill them with kindness.'"

John scuffed slightly as he stood waiting for them. He shifted his hold in his rifle as he shook his head. "That and you just love flirting with turians."

Jane gave a small laugh as she stopped beside him and looked up to him. "I can't help it. The look on their faces is too good to pass up. Their faces are in complete shock and they can't seem to decide if they should be angry or turned on." She laughed lightly once more before she moved to take the lead. Garrus and John both moved to take the rear as they followed her, John shaking his head once more.

As they followed her Garrus couldn't help but compare the siblings. They both shared so many common traits. The need to help and do what was right. They seemed to be such good people. And from what he had seen Jane held the same charm her brother did, but with a bit more flare. John was always charming and could usually get his way with simple words and now he had an equal in his sister. If Garrus was going to help John 'to keep an eye on her' he really had his work cut out for him.

As they moved along the streets they ran into little resistance. A stop here and there for John to do what he normally did and search for extra med-packs and heat sinks. They had to stop at one point for Jane to help a batarian who seemed to be infected and not doing so well. He was resistant at first but as he seemed to realize who Jane was and that she was trying to help him, he took the meds she offered and was on his way. As they made their way along towards a small overhead walkway John moved up next to his sister.

"Do you really have a key element to the cure for this plague?"

Jane gave a small laugh as she looked up to him with a coy look. "I did. Mordin already has it. I found it two days before the Blue Suns grabbed me. After Mordin had it, he got to work on making a cure. He should be finishing it now and is probably working on a means to distribute it if he hasn't figured out how to do so already." As she moved up the stairs she pulled out her handguns at the sound of gunfire from up ahead. "So I truly didn't really lie. I only bent the truth slightly." She offered him another cheeky grin as they made it to the top of the landing.

Down below a small firefight was in progress. It seemed that the Blue Suns were trying to push out invading Blood Pack. But with most of the Blue Suns members being infected by the plague and the Blood Pack swarming with unaffected vorcha, the Blue Suns forces were quickly wiped out. John began to ready his rifle as he thought up a plan. As he did, Garrus noticed Jane moving back slightly. He was about to inquire as to where she was going when John spoke up.

"Garrus, I want you up here with your rifle. Take out any that are in the back and look likely to cause trouble. Namely the ones with flame throwers. Jane I want..." He looked back towards his sister who had moved back as far as she could go. He titled his head slightly as he turned to look at her. "Jane?"

She offered him a small smile as she looked over the two guns in her hands. Garrus was beyond confused. Her actions were that of someone who was afraid but her posture and face showed otherwise. She gave a nod as she looked to her brother. "Your biotics have improved right? Catch me?"

Garrus was about to inquire as to what she meant when she began to full on run towards the ledge. John let out a small growl as her foot hit the railing and she jumped straight into the air. "Fuck.." John cursed as he quickly held out a hand that shimmered blue before the blue light enveloped Jane. Her falling was quickly halted and she descended slowly towards the ground. As she did, she brought her guns up to aim, taking out three of the Blood Pack before they were even aware that they were being attacked. As they turned to fire John looked over to Garrus and tilted his head towards the mercs.

"Cover her." Garrus nodded quickly and recovered from his small shock and moved to the railing in front of him. It only took him a second to ready the gun and pull the trigger, taking down a vorcha who was about to shoot at the slowly descending human. As he scanned over the targets he noticed that most of the threats were taken out by the woman as she continued to fire her hand cannons. He chanced a glance at her as her feet hit the ground. Quickly she rolled over to cover and let her spent heat sinks pop out of the guns before reloading them. She flashed a smile towards them as she raised a hand to activate her comm.

Both John and Garrus raised their hands to listen to what she had to say. "Come on down and join the party!" John gave a small laugh as he moved towards the stairs, raising his rifle to start his assault on the remaining Blood Pack.

"I'm on my way. Though I think I'll come down a little less stylish than you. I like to think I'm not quite as graceful as you." He heard Jane laugh through the comm as she moved her hand once more but now towards her omni-tool. After a few clicks an odd noise began to drift around the area. It wasn't until Garrus heard a human voice singing that he realized that it was music. He shook his head and readied his rifle taking out the targets that John had assigned to him.

The fight was standard from there on, with both John and Jane firing from behind cover and Garrus sniping from above. Vorcha after vorcha fell to their unfaltering fire or from a random pull or warp sent out by John. Every once in a while a krogan would appear on the scene but with the three of them focusing fire on them they did not last long. But what would a fire fight with John be without a small amount of banter?

"Jane, just what the hell are we listening to?"

"What's the matter, John? Don't you like bad music from the late 90's early 2000's?"

"Is that what this noise is? Good God Jane. What did you do, search for the worst music from the worst music period in history and make a playlist?"

"What else do you expect a girl with no friends on Omega to do?"

"Go out and have a life."

"So you want me to go out?"

"Yep."

"Out to clubs?"

"Of course!"

"Have some fun?"

"Sure, why not?"

"Meet a lot of guys?"

"Uhhh..."

"Get completely wasted?"

"I didn't say that.."

"Meet lots of strange men that I can take back to my place?"

A small cough sounded over the comm as John cleared his throat. "I changed my mind... I would like you to stay in your room and never come out. Better yet, I think I would like it if you became a nun." Johns words were laced with sarcasm which pulled a laugh out of Jane and Garrus.

As the last vorcha went down, John waited a moment before calling the all clear. Garrus rose from his spot to move down the stairs and join the pair. As he reached the bottom he was met with a smiling Jane who was waiting for John to finish his search for spare heat sinks. He looked to her as he offered her a smile as well.

"Nice shooting, Tex. I can see why John likes to keep you on his six." She pushed off the wall as John moved over to join them. Garrus looked to her with a confused look that his subharmonics echoed. She looked to him for a second then gave a small nod. "Tex refers to Texas which is a place on Earth. Nowadays people believe that most cowboys lived there. Cowboys were sharp shooters that were known for good aim and ... you know what never mind." She laughed as his face became more confused. She waved her hand as if to erase everything she had said. "Just know that Tex in this context means that you are an amazing shot."

Garrus chuckled slightly as he moved his rifle to his shoulder and he flashed her a small smile. "Then in that case, thanks. I always try to be a little more awesome each time. And I seem to succeed each time."

They both shared a laugh as John raised his brow. He looked them both over before he looked to Jane and gave her a small nod. She smiled as she turned and began to lead once more. Unlike before she now made her way with her guns out and ready.

As they arrived at the clinic they all holstered their weapons and proceeded inside. They were met with the sight of many people hustling and bustling around the room. It seemed they were so overflowing with injured and sick people that some were waiting in the hallways on beds and chairs and just about anywhere they could sit. A few of the people stopped Jane as she walked by but she didn't stop and apologized as she moved towards the back of the room.

As they entered the room they were greeted with the sight of a salarian doctor speaking very fast to a human about the cure. As they entered his attention turned to Jane and the salarian's face lit up before he moved to her, his arms out in excitement.

"Jane, good to see you alive. Heard Blue Suns took you. Feared you would not make it back. Afraid they discovered who you were." The doctors eyes quickly slid over John and Garrus before they landed back on her. "Not dressed for work. Leaving maybe. New job perhaps. Human male bares resemblance. Brother perhaps? No. Said he was dead. Unless.." Now the salarian moved to John looking him over closely. His lips twisted into a smirk as a hand moved to rub his chin. "Hmm... Very interesting."

Jane laughed slightly as she moved to place a hand on his arm gaining his attention. "I will explain in time Mordin, but not here and not now." The doctor looked to her for a moment, studying her then gave a nod to move back over to his workbench. Jane moved to stand across from him looking over what he was doing.

"Mordin why have you not got the cure out already? I know you have one. I'm sure you have it ready. Why is the plague still tearing through this area?" The doctor looked to her before bringing up a schematic on the terminal beside her.

"Cure has been created. Ready to introduce into the public by environmental system. Trouble. Blood Pack have control of area. No one to send safely. Must stay and see over the clinic until cure is distributed or would go myself." His eyes moved over them as he seemed to calculate. Another nod was given as he turned to look to John. "Can send you. Team made it here safely. Should be able to take care of everything without effort."

John took the opportunity to step forward and gave a nod. "I am here to recruit you Doctor Solus. I'm putting a team together to fight the collectors and we need your assistance."

The salarian nodded as he turned back to his workbench. "Hmm, collectors. Recently taking humans from colonies. Not a good situation. Will need my help. Will go as soon as cure here is realized and..." His gaze moved towards Jane who shot him a smile. "If I have good assistant as well. Much work to be done. Alien crew. Will be very helpful to have assistant who is schooled in all races."

John gave a sigh as he looked to Jane, who sported a triumphing grin. It seemed she had won and would be coming along on the mission. He sighed as he nodded. Jane turned to look at the salarian who moved to a case on a far table. She stood beside him as he seemed to explain what she needed to do. Garrus moved to stand beside John as he rubbed his temple.

"Well at least you now have a replacement for that Zaeed guy. You're sister isn't that bad of a shot. And it would be good to have her around."

John sighed once more as he looked to his friend. "I'm just not so keen on pulling my sister into a mission that walks that fine line of death. But she is so headstrong and I should have known that she would find a way to come along. I just hope I don't regret it."


	5. Chapter 5

And I'm back! Sorry for the Houdini act. I have two test this week as well as two teapot sets due Tuesday that are only 1/3 of the way done. That plus the release of Borderlands has cause me to have a mini mind melt and my muse to leave (or be directed into a ceramic muse and not a writing). But I was able to get this chapter together for you lovelys. And expect more of an update next week when I get all of these school things out of the way.

_Disclaimer: I'm taking applications for people who wish to form a strike team to retrive the rights to Bio-Ware. Meetings are on every other Wednesday. Until then I do not own anything related to Bio-Ware._

Garrus allowed himself a small groan to leave him as he raised his shoulders one at a time, working out the kink that had formed in his neck as he worked. His gaze traveled towards the heads-up display beside his terminal. It had been four hours since he had begun his work on calibrating the main cannon. He had not realized that the one code he was working on would take so damn long to finish. It had already been well over an hour since John had gone down to retrieve the krogan warlord.

At first Garrus had been a little upset, not being able to go on the mission. But after thinking about it he realized that it might not be the best idea to take a turian and a salarian on a mission to retrieve a krogan warlord and ask him to take part in a mission on behalf of a human-centric group like Cerberus. John wanted to get a feel for his newest member and one enemy of the krogans at the time was enough.

Garrus realized that he hadn't had a real meal in quite a long time and moved out of the battery and towards the mess. But as he reached the mess and took stock of the dextro-friendly food he realized that sadly it would be even longer still.

As he stood leaning against one of the tables in the mess area a light noise reached his ear. At first he believed it to be some of the crew talking but as he listened more closely he noticed it was just one voice. And it had a musical feel to it. He realized that someone was singing just down the hall.

Pushing off the table he moved down the hall to try and pinpoint just where the sound was coming from. Stopping and angling his head decided it was coming from the left a short distance down the hall but not from the females restroom and the crew quarters. That left only the observatory, which was odd because as far as he knew that was an empty room.

Stepping up to the green access panel he let his hand ghost over it to gain access to the room. As the door opened he was greeted with not only the singing but a sight that caused him to fight back a chuckle.

At the far side of the room by the bookshelf stood Jane on her bare tiptoes as she seemed to be stacking things on the highest shelf. Around her the contents of the shelf as well as what appeared to be a new pack were stacked about her feet. As she moved back and forth between the stacks and the bookshelves her hips swayed as she sang a song he had never heard before. At some moments she would roll her shoulders back one at a time or even dip one back far and roll her whole body in a dance.

He brought a hand up to cover his mouth as it became increasingly hard to hide his laughter. Especially as he began to listen to the words of the song. Most of the references his translator couldn't understand but some of the message he got and it was quite provocative. Finally he felt it was about time to let her know he was there, to save her some of her embarrassment. He cleared his throat and knocked on the frame of the door so that she would hear him.

Lucky for him she did as she spun around quickly. She reached up and pulled the receiver out of the side of her ear as an explosion of music filled the room echoing what she had been singing. A bright red tint traveled across her nose as she stared at him. After a few seconds his smile was under control.

"So do you normally hold private concerts or do you sell tickets to your shows?" Her eyes grew wide for a moment before a large grin spread across her lips and she burst into a giggle. She shifted so her weight sunk into one hip as her hands moved to rest on her waist.

"Most of my public shows are free with a cover charge of a drink or two. But my private shows..." A coy smile curved its way across her lips as she took two steps closer to him. Now she stood about a foot away from him. Her gaze was turned up towards him, through her long lashes. Garrus wouldn't call himself a human expert but if he was reading her moves correctly he thought he might be in trouble.

"My private shows are usually earned and receive a special sort of prize at the end." She let her gaze drop so she could take in his full form and Garrus couldn't help but swallow. As her eyes met his again her smile was still there, twisting her lips. "This one was free. Next time I'll charge you."

With that she turned on her heel and moved back towards the bookshelf. Garrus was rooted in place unsure of what to do. John seemed to be right. His sister did seem to flirt with everyone. He had thought he might slide under the radar as 'brothers best friend' but it seemed like that didn't matter to her at all. Now what the hell was he supposed to do? His subharmonics danced somewhere between worry and fear. He was saved from saying anything by her laugh.

His eyes moved back to hers as she looked at him over her shoulder. "Spirits Garrus, I'm just fucking with you. Stop looking like I'm about to jump you at any second and have my wicked way with you." He let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding. A small chuckle escaped him as he raised a talon to scratch his brow plates.

"Damn I thought you were serious for a minute there. Took me a little by surprise." Give him a charging krogan. No problem. A situation where he needs to find a way out of a room filled with mercs. Got that. But throw a flirting woman at him and Garrus felt like an academy boy just starting to develop his adult plates.

She chuckled along with him as she turned and began to organize her things once more. "That's one thing you've got to learn about me. Just like John said, if there is a chance to flirt I'll take it. But it's going to take more than looks and a good aim to get me to fall for someone. It's the inside that gets my heart to flutter, not the box it's given to me in."

She looked over her shoulder once more with a large grin. Garrus was utterly confused. How was he supposed to take her comment? Did she mean that she found him attractive? That would be the first time he was complemented for his good looks by a human. And the rest of what she said - just what did she mean? There were too many questions that he really did want to ask.

So instead of leaving he stepped up to move beside her to help her stack her things on the shelf. After a few seconds she looked at him with a raised brow. "So did you have a reason for coming into my new room? Or were you simply drawn in by my siren song?"

He looked down at her as his subharmonics trilled his confusion. She chuckled lightly while she raised her hand to try and stifle it. "Sorry I forgot, human vs. non human." She now turned around to fully face him as she began to explain. "Sirens are human mythical creatures that lived in the ocean. When humans used to travel across the sea in boats they would sing in a way that the humans found irresistible. So they would become entranced with the song, seduced by it and either crash their ship or jump overboard to get to the beautiful women. Then the siren would kill them and in some stories eat them."

His face twisted slightly from confusion to horror as he took a small step back. "Humans are quite weird to think of such a thing..." His eyes looked her over slowly as he thought about her words. From the little he had learned about human history there seemed to be a lot of stories that tied sex with death, mostly in mythical settings. No wonder humans seemed to be so shy and reserved about sex. She chuckled again as she let her hip shift slightly so she bumped his side.

"Humans only use that expression now to talk about something irresistible. It's no longer about sex or capturing men. Almost anything can call to you like a siren's song. Maybe even some calibrations or a nice gun." Now it was his turn to chuckle as he relaxed and looked to her.

"That I can understand. Those Black Widows are a real beauty that always catch my eye." She joined him in a small laugh as she picked up a frame that held a picture of a younger version of her with a younger John. It was odd to see the hero of the galaxy so young and posing with his younger sister. He watched as she lifted the frame to place it at eye level on the shelf. "So Garrus, what can I do for you?"

She had been right that her song brought him to her at first but now that he was here he found that he enjoyed talking to her. And he really wanted to ask her about her friend on his team. He had been thinking about it since the mission, since he found out really. Just how he was going to bring it up without hinting at his own secret identity or what he knew he had no idea. He gave a small nod as he handed her another book to stack.

"There was something that I wanted to talk about with you, now that we are alone." She smiled at him as she took the book and looked up to him once more through her lashes. At first he was afraid that she mistook his intent. Maybe she thought he was flirting with her. But as she turned away and began to shift the items on the shelf she spoke and it was clear that wasn't the case.

"You want to talk about your team member that I knew, right?"

"Yes that is- Wait... How did you know...?" He was at a loss. There was a whole speech that he had prepped in his mind and now it was wasted. She knew who he was. A large smile grew on her face as she moved to sit on the small couch that was beside the bookshelf.

"How did I find out that you were Archangel?" He nodded as he moved to sit beside her as she shifted so that she could pull her feet up and under her as her arm rested on the back of the couch. "You got to give me some credit here Garrus. I lived on Omega through the whole Archangel rise. He was a sharp shooting turian who wore blue." Her free hand move up to point towards his chest indicating his armor. "He was a do good-er that I always thought would get along amazingly well with my brother. And then a day after he is reported as being killed by a gun ship rocket I come across a turian in blue who has a huge and less than a day old injury on his face."

She smiled as her eyes moved to his scarred face, lingering for a moment before returning to his eyes. "It also didn't help that you seemed really interested when I started talking about my friend. On a personal level almost. All the pieces were there, it was easy to put them together."

He chuckled slightly as he leaned back in the seat and raised a finger to lightly trace the scarring on his face. "I guess you are right." His pride was a little hurt that she figured it out so easily. But truth be told she had information that a normal person wouldn't have. Things like her medical background. A normal person wouldn't be able to tell how fresh his wounds were. A normal person from Omega wouldn't know his history or his ties with John. So she did have a bit of an advantage. His thoughts were interrupted as she spoke a name that made his blood boil.

"Sidonis... How did he die..." Instead of an answer he couldn't stop the deep growl from his chest. He stood up quickly and moved to the window to stare out into the space stretched out before him. He felt a soft hand on his arm. Looking down piercing blue orbs met pale blue that held a small amount of sorrow. He realized that she thought him angry about his death, just like the rest of his team. Turning his gaze away from her he looked back to the stars.

"He isn't dead... yet..." He could tell that the news shocked her as she backed away from him and took her hand away, bringing it to her lip. "But I don't-" She shook her head slightly before looking back towards him for an explanation. He sighed but refused to look down at her. This was something he hadn't even told Shepard about. He didn't really want to relive it all this soon but for Jane it was personal on the same level. The only person he knew that had known any of his team.

"Sidonis is the reason they are all dead. He made a deal with the Blue Suns to hand us over for money or his own life, I don't know." His eyes moved over towards her now as he took in the confusion on her face that was slowly bleeding into anger. "I would assume that you were part of the deal as well. Archangel and his team along with the only sibling of the legendary John Shepard. That's quite the catch."

A growl escaped the small human as she turned and looked ready to destroy something. She paced a few steps back and forth before she turned back to look at him. Garrus was taken aback by the anger he saw in her eyes, she suddenly looked very dangerous. He had to admit that her anger fueled his own and he almost physically _felt _the connection between him and her. They had both been put on the slaughter board by someone they had trusted.

"That son of a bitch! He played me as a fool! Got all close and chummy with me just to hand me off. I wouldn't be surprised if the bastard was working with them the whole time." She growled once more as she tossed her arms and turned to walk away. "I should have listened to my gut. Don't trust anyone on Omega! But did I listen? No. It took a few encounters but he worked his charm and..." She growled again and turned to point a finger at him. "Do you know where he is?"

Garrus shook his head as he crossed his arms. "If I did I would have John point his ship in that direction. Pay him back for the lives he sacrificed." He watched as she moved to stand in front of him. Her arm was held out as she narrowed her eyes. Her gesture was one that he was quite familiar with but surely she didn't know it, did she?

"When you find him I want to come along. I think I have a some bullets I can put aside for him. There are a few things he owes me as well. Not as high priced as the lives he took but believe me a price that needs to be paid."

His eyes moved back towards her arm once more as his mandibles shifted into a smirk. She _did _know what she was doing. Reaching out he grabbed her forearm as she returned the grip. She leaned forward as he did as well. Their foreheads touched lightly before they pulled away. It was a turian promise. Between mates it was executed in a more intimate fashion with the couple in an embrace and the touch lingering far longer but the message was still the same.  
'I promise with my life.'  
A mated couple would be saying that they would promise to love each other for as long as they lived. But here in this moment she was swearing to him that she would help him get his own revenge while he was swearing to help her get hers as well. It was something that as far as he was aware only turians did. So it was very interesting to do it with a human.

As she released his arm she stepped back with a large smile. He couldn't help but share the smile as he watched her for a second. He chuckled as she gave off a less aggressive growl and turned towards the door.

"Great, now I feel the need to beat the shit out of something." She paused and looked over her shoulder with a smirk. "Want to go a few rounds in the cargo hold?"

The way she fluttered her lashes and cocked her hip once more showed she knew exactly what sparring meant to a turian. He chuckled and shook his head as he followed after her.

"I'll have to skip out on that. I'm sure there are more calibrations that need to be done." She gave a small huff that turned into a snicker as she raised her hand to wave him off as the door opened and she moved towards the elevator.

"Boys and their toys. Alright then suit yourself. I'll see you around, Tex." She turned in the elevator to push the button and gave him a small wink as the door shut. Garrus turned towards the main battery shaking his head. With Jane on board things were sure to stay very interesting at the least.


	6. Chapter 6

Sorry for the long disappearance my darlings... We had a rough two weeks with having to put down our 11 year old cat, my in-laws going in and out of the hospital, my son getting really sick this past week and my birthday was Sunday. But I'm still here. To make up for it I give you a nice long chapter.

And since I know you all have played the game I'm leaving out the detailed bit and altering the mission a little. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. ^w^

_Disclaimer: Yeah I still own nothing... I think I own my car, tablet, system and games... And that's about all I own..._

The sound of raised voices caused Garrus to look up from the work he was doing on the main guns. Normally he would just ignore the loud voices from the mess but the continuing noises were almost impossible to block out. That, plus the added fact that he hadn't been out of the battery for some time made it seem like a good idea to check out who made all that noise. Pushing away from the console he turned and made his way out of the main battery and towards the kitchen. As he arrived at the end of the small hallway he was met with an interesting sight.

A small gaggle, if you could call it that, of girls sat around one of the tables with Jane sitting on the edge of the table. She appeared to be in the middle of a story that seemed to be quite hilarious from the way the other girls were breaking out in laughter. To her right, also leaning on the table, stood their newest member Jack, the psychotic biotic as some where calling her. John had taken Jane and the young krogan on to the prison ship to retrieve the girl and somewhere in the brawl and aftermath Jane and the tattooed woman seemed to have bonded. On Jane's other side sat Kasumi, who seemed to be very entertained by the story. Though her glowing eyes seemed to drift to the small table beside the battery stairs every once and a while. Looking over Garrus found Jacob standing with Donnelly there and a few other Cerberus members. Stepping over to the men he raised a thumb towards the girls.

"Just what is that all about?" Jacob gave a small scuff as he leaned back on the table behind him, his arms crossed to mimic the one foot that crossed over the other. "Your guess is as good as ours. They have been over there giggling and gossiping for the better part of an hour. It started with just Jane, Kelly and Jack. Now, as you can see, there is a swarm of them."

"Boys." Both Garrus and Jacob turned their heads to look at Ken who was staring down to the girls. He then looked to them and raised his shoulders. "It has to be boys right? It's the only thing girls can talk on hours ends 'bout, right?" Garrus then looked back to Jacob who raised his shoulders in confusion as well.

Garrus heard the ding of the elevator and as John came around the corner Jane's voice grew loud as she pointed to him. "Ask John, he was there. I swear to you!" The girls all burst out laughing as John raised a brow and crossed his arms.

"Alright. What story are you telling now?" Jane gave her brother a large grin as she leaned forward and tilted her head. "The 'Barbie Girl' incident." John stared at her for a moment before a large grin spread across his face. Holding up his hands he looked up as he recalled the memory.

"So there I was, back early with my squadron. We all decide to head over to my place to grab a few beers and play some cards. And what do we find as we ALL turn the corner into the kitchen? My ever so lovely sister clad only in her undergarments singing one if the worst songs in human history into a spatula."

There was a small pause before the entire mess broke out into laughter. Garrus let his gaze fall on Jane who was laughing along with everyone else. The girls around her began to ask what happened next. Jane shared a smirk with them before leaning back on her hands behind her.

"Well of course when I realized they were there, there was that brief moment where no one did anything. John was mortified, his buddies weren't sure just what the situation called for and well I was just shocked. Then ever so slightly I gave them a small smile and stated that I was far too under dressed for their party and to excuse me to put on at least a pair of socks." Everyone broke into laughter as John rolled his eyes. He shook his head slightly before smiling towards his sister.

"Thanks to that I heard far too many questions and comments that, if I had my way, would never have to hear again. Even a few request for roommates if you planned to stick around some more." Jane smiled as she moved off the table to look at John with arms crossed. She held a knowing smirk as she lifted her chin towards him.

They stood for a few seconds before John sighed and gave a short nod. Jane smiled as she moved towards him. "Are we going on an adventure?"

John nodded as she neared. He raised his fist which was soon after bumped by Jane's fist right before they slapped palms. His eyes fell on Garrus and he offered him a nod. "Suit up Garrus. We are heading towards Horizon. The Illusive Man has details that they may be the next colony to get hit."

Garrus nodded to John before his gaze moved over towards Jane. She smiled at him before giving him a wink. A small chuckle left him as he shook his head slightly. He watched for a minute as she turned and moved back to her room before he moved back towards the main battery to get ready. As he did, he heard the people in the mess continue their conversation of embarrassing situations.

As the drop ship pulled away Garrus looked over his rifle once more as John spoke to them. "Seeker swarms dead ahead. Now we get to see how well this shielding Mordin cooked up for us works."

Jane laughed slightly as her gaze moved over to her brother. A hand was placed on her hip as she tilted her head to the side. "If Mordin made it, it works... He is far over qualified for anything I've seen him do in the lab." She smiled as she took her cue from her brother and pulled out her assault rifle.

As they met the first wave of collectors John took one side blasting away with his biotics, while Jane moved up with Garrus. He looked over to her as she took cover with him. A shudder ran down her back before she smiled over to him. "Granted, I'm someone who doesn't really judge people based on their race or looks. But damn it all, I can't look at those things and not see big slimy bugs..." Another shudder ran over her as she let her head rest on the crate behind her, waiting for the sound of gunfire to die down so she could retaliate.

Garrus chuckled as he fired off two shots before moving back to her side. "It seems that I have found Jane Shepard's weakness. Bugs. Who would have guessed?" He watched as she popped up and pulled the trigger taking down a collector before she ducked back to smile at him.

"Live your life hopping from ship to ship and then move to Earth where they are simply everywhere. They are gross and just..." She shuddered once more before the smile returned and she tilted her head back towards the battle. "Let's just say it makes it easier to kill these fuckers..." And with that she was ducking around the crate over to the next to get a better shot. Garrus couldn't help but chuckle as he watched her move forward. Jane certainly brightened up a battlefield, kinda the way John did.

He also had to marvel at her battle skills. She could easily take down a target with her assault rifle before flawlessly switching to her hand guns. Bringing up his scope he began to pick off a few of the collectors that were drawing near the human girl, but made sure she still had a few to kill. After a moment he moved over to look at Johns side. The biotic was more capable, having taken down all but three on his side.

Lining up a shot Garrus took down one of the three while Shepard used his biotics to warp and crush the other to. He was about to relax when Jane's voice sounded over the com.

"What the FUCK are these things!?" Garrus looked over to where he had last seen Jane only to find she wasn't there. Moving quickly he noticed John moving just as fast behind him. As he rounded the corner he dropped to one knee to line up another shot. His bullet caught the husk right between the eyes. As it dropped he popped his heat sink and began to load another, looking over the situation.

A swarm of husk had come out of nowhere. By the bodies further back it seemed that Jane had taken out a few at a distance but they overwhelmed her too quickly. She was currently in the middle of punching and kicking the masses off her. Once his rifle was ready he glanced over to John who was pulling out his own rifle and gave him a nod before they began to shoot the husks Jane tossed off.

At one moment Garrus watched as one of the husks grabbed Jane from behind. But instead of kicking or really fighting Jane took hold of the husk arms and by kicking off another husk in front other she kicked up and over so she now sat on the husk back. Somewhere during the stunt one of her hands had moved up to her lower back. With a small flick a blade was pulled out, spun, then drove into the husk, right where its spine met its head. Slowly the blue lights on it's body faded as the husk began to crumble under her.

Landing on the ground she sat for a moment removing her blade. As she rose another husk charged towards her, but soon found Garrus's bullet ripping right through the side of its head. As the last one fell, Jane stood slightly panting, placing her weapons back where they belonged with fresh clips. Her eyes moved up towards Garrus as he and John moved towards her. She offered him a smirk as he stopped while John moved forward towards the fallen husk.

Jane seemed to be at a loss for a moment as they stood side by side watching John. After a moment she simply leaned in to bump him slightly with her shoulder. "I guess being a knight in shining armor comes along with the vigilante stuff?"

He chuckled as he chanced a glance to her before returning the bump. "I did make sure to extra buff my armor today. And here I was thinking you wouldn't notice." She looked up to him for a brief moment before she began to giggle. Stepping away she moved over to stand near John, Garrus right behind her.

"Just what the hell are these things?" John looked up to Garrus to share a small nod. John bent down to look the creature over with look of disgust. "They are husks. We ran into them on Eden Prime and anywhere Saren could be found. They are, or - well - they _were_ humans that had been sacrificed on a pole and transformed to become tools used by the reapers. Only these are different. And I haven't seen any dragon teeth, so my guess is the collectors brought them along."

Jane shared a look that mimicked her brothers as she shifted her weight on her feet. She seemed very uncomfortable as she took a few small steps back. "These things use to be humans? What a fucked up way to die..." Garrus nodded as he watched John for a few seconds before the commander stood and began to reload his weapon. And with that Jane and Garrus took up their positions behind John and they were on their way again.

It wasn't long for them to run into another group of collectors. Taking cover, Garrus switched to his assault rifle and began to give John some cover fire as the biotic set up warps and other shiny blue traps. It was then that Garrus caught sight of one of the collectors acting funny. It seemed to be fighting with itself as it twisted and turned, a yellow gold glow emanating from it. Garrus called out to the other two and brought their attention to it as a deep voice echoed over the field. "Assuming direct control..."

John looked to Garrus then to Jane before looking back to the now glowing collector that seemed to have gained some special power as he sent dark shockwaves towards John. One blast hit his cover and knocked him back making him to let out a painful cry. Garrus heard Jane give a small growl as her fire shifted towards the controlled collector. Garrus joined in, now switching to his sniper so that he could get a more focused shot on the creatures head. As they assaulted the collector the same voice continued to echo through the area, calling out to Shepard and taunting him.

It took a while but as the remains of the collector began to disintegrate away Garrus couldn't help but feel a little glad. The way that thing seemed to know Shepard and call out to him was on the far side of creepy. He chanced a glance over to where Jane was kneeling beside John, giving him a once over. Once he was sure that his friend was fine his eyes turned back to the few enemies that remained. As there were only two left the siblings joined him once more. He gave a turian smirk as he looked over to John.

"I think that you have a fan... Maybe not as pretty and subtle as the last one. But a fan none the less..." John chuckled as he rose and titled his head towards the garage that was ahead.

"Well you know I always have time for my fans. Whether it be a picture, an autograph or a bullet between the eyes." He chuckled once more as he began to move out. Jane stepped up right behind him with a raised brow which he shook off. Garrus watched the exchange and felt a little homesick. The unspoken language between siblings was something that his sister and he had had as well. And watching how easy it was for them to communicate with so little words made him miss that bond that he shared with his sister.

As they left the garage Jane was shaking her head with a small sigh. "Could you blame the poor fool? Watching everyone get attacked by those buggy things right in front of his eyes." Garrus gave a scuff as he moved to stand beside her. Her gaze turned to him as her brow arched. She seemed to want him to explain and he raised a shoulder. "A turian would have fought back. No matter what. Running in hiding is not in our nature..."

Jane titled her head slightly before looking ahead. "That may be so but it's not the way humans are raised. We aren't all trained to fight at young ages. Some humans have never held a gun in their lives. And when those individuals are placed up against something that so easily could take them down they simply run. Live to see another day. Humans can be very selfish, especially when it comes to situations where their lives are at stake." She gave a small chuckle as she tilted her chin towards her brother who walked in front of her. "While at the very same time you have people like my brother who likes it when the odds are against him. More selfless than almost anyone I have ever seen before, ready to sacrifice everything to save one life. As you know he did do that exact thing once already."

As she smiled towards her brother who chanced a glance over his shoulder to offer her a smile Garrus couldn't help but think about what she said. She seemed to admire her brother but somehow didn't see that she seemed to hold the exact same traits she admired. At least to a degree. He had found that almost every medic he had ever met held that selfless aspect. It came from a deep desire to help others in any situation.

They continued to fight their way along the abandoned buildings and frozen people that had not been loaded into the pods yet. It was a disturbing sight but Garrus kept his eyes ahead as did the humans that were beside him. They were making their way towards the GARDIAN towers in hopes of stopping the collectors. But what was really occupying Garrus's mind was the fact that Alenko was stationed here. He had not seen the human solider since John's funeral. But the apparent distress of John and Jane had him interested as well as worried. In John's case he fully understood. But Jane had reacted to Kaidan's name as if she would rather not see him and he had no idea why. Part of him hoped that the human male was still here just to get to the bottom of that.

It was after a few waves of collectors, husks and some other creature that looked like a husk with a large growth on its neck, that they finally reached the tower. As they neared it, Garrus moved to the side letting Shepard get to it while he scouted the area. He noticed that Jane moved opposite of him but in the same manner. From where he stood he heard John curse before patching in to the Normandy.

"EDI, you got me? Good, I need you to get this thing online as quick as you can. … Yeah, alright..." He dropped his hand and looked around them. Pointing towards a small walkway between two buildings he gave a small nod. "Let's get stationed up there. It's going to take a while for EDI to get everything ready and she says that we have enemies on the way. Garrus, you hold up in the middle. Jane, you take the left side. I'll take the right." Garrus and Jane both nodded as they followed him over.

And true to EDI's words it was only a few minutes after they got set up that the enemies began to filter in through different areas of the port. The area that John had picked seemed to be almost perfect. Anything that wanted to get to them had to come up one of the two little stairways that the Shepard's siblings covered while he had a clear sight on the enemies that moved around the far side of the port.

It was after what seemed to be the final wave that John stood and looked over them before moving to the stairs. "It looks like we have a small break here. I'm going to go make a sweep. You two stay here and cover me."

Garrus nodded as he began to reload his rifle. He was running low on heat sinks so stocking up seemed like a good idea. As John moved through the piles of bodies that had amassed due to their effort, Jane stood to lean on the rail. "Bring me back something good, brother dear..."

John chuckled as he waved a hand at her showing he heard. Garrus glanced over to watch Jane as she began to follow his lead and replace the heat sinks in all three of her guns. His mandibles twitched in a smile as he watched her. "You know for a medic, you are pretty good at holding your own in a fire fight."

Her eyes moved up to his before her lips twisted into a sassy smile. "Well - I was in the Alliance military for five years. They don't just teach you how to line up and make a uniform look good in there. Plus I had the added bonus of my mother." She chuckled slightly as she moved her eyes to watch John move through the field.

"I'm not sure if you are aware but our mother is an Alliance captain. And she didn't get that high command just from her good looks. Her specialty is mostly hand to hand combat, the easiest thing to train when you live on a ship. So when I was younger, mother would give John and I special lessons everyday to teach us the art. John wasn't so big on it but I took to it like second nature. It was just such an easy way to vent everything and become at peace at the same time."

Her head was now resting against the wall behind her as she seemed to be lost in thought. When she realized that Garrus was staring she laughed and turned to look around the wall at John. "Silly, I know but that's how it goes." She laughed once more but Garrus couldn't help but to continue to stare at her. That was the first time he had ever heard something that simple describe how it felt to spar. Most turians felt that way but from what he could see not many humans saw hand to hand training like that.

He was about to comment when a noise drew their attention. John shouted to get to cover as he dove behind a crate himself. From the sky flew a large creature that almost seemed to be an altered collector. It had a wide body and far to many bug like legs. Looking over to Jane he couldn't help but smirk at her shudder. Moving to lean over the wall he began to fire off rounds into the thing. It took less than a second for Jane to join him and, from the sound of gun fire from the other side of the map, John as well.

It was when he hit the last shot in the clip to the back of the creatures head, popped the heat sink and reached to his back to find that he had no extra clips. Looking down to his small pack that held the spare clips to see if he was mistaken, he missed the fact that the thing was slowly turning towards him, the front glowing bright.

When he did notice a sudden mass was hitting him around the waist and knocked him to the floor just as a large explosion hit where he had just been standing. As he lifted his head to see exactly what had happened, he was greeted with the sight of Jane posing above him. Her knees held her up, one on either side of his waist while one hand braced her beside his head, her other hand still holding her gun. Her gaze was fixed towards where the blast had just hit.

As he moved his head slightly in an effort to get up, the smells started to assault his nose. Sure, the normal smell of battle was there: gun oil, dirt, sweat. But there were some other smells that were hidden underneath, smells he would have only been able to get at at this close distance. A sweet fragrance that reminded him of a flower he once smelt on the citadel. It was soft and gentle but at the same time powerful. There was also a bolder scent, one that caused a reaction in him that he was not too sure about. It was the smell of adrenaline with a hint of arousal. Did being in the middle of a battle turn Jane on? He had heard of a few humans that had the same response as turians in the heat of a fight but he had never been near one. Let alone underneath.

It also wasn't helping that he had not been this physically close to a woman in - what - maybe two years? Which was not helping the situation. Embarrassment filled him for his reaction. Embarrassed that his pulse was elevating. Embarrassed by the hitch in his breath. Embarrassed by the way his plates threatened to part. And his subharmonics echoed that embarrassment. The noise caused Jane to turn her head to look at him. A smile rose to her lips as she moved her far leg up and over him so that she was sitting beside him now, back to the small wall.

"Sorry about that big guy." As he moved to put his back beside her she chuckled slightly and bumped his shoulder with her own. "I just figured you wanted to stay on the sexy side of scars instead of making that jump into hell looking like chewed varren meat."

He chuckled with her while a small amount of pride grew at her statement. As she moved to the small gap and rolled over to her side once more he switched to his assault rifle. "Good thing too... Any more scars and I would be afraid to ever land on Tuchanka, for fear of all the breeding contracts that would be thrown at me."

His comment pulled a laugh from her as she rose over the ledge and began to fire at the creature. Garrus was about to join her when John appeared around the wall, ducking for cover. In his hand was a large gun that seemed to be a heavy weapon. As he looked over to Garrus he smiled once before leaning forward to call out to his sister.

"Here's your gift Jane. Now play nicely with it and make sure you share!" As she dropped down he slid the collector-looking weapon over towards her. As she caught it, her eyes lit up as she looked the large weapon over. A smile grew on her face as she readied the weapon.

"You hold, I hit?" John laughed and nodded before he looked towards Garrus and tilted his head towards the creature on the other side of the wall. As he did he pulled a few spare clips from his pack and handed them to the turian.

"Garrus, you just do what you do best."

He laughed as he began to reload his rifle and gave John a nod. "Roger that." With a turian smile he rose up and over the cover and began to fire at the creature, trying to drop it's shield. After a clip and a half the thing fell down and began to recharge. As it did, Garrus took a step back and watched John rise and throw a stasis up holding the creature still. As the thing fought, Jane stood up with a smirk on her face. Raising the weapon, a charging noise droned before a large beam shot out, hitting the creature right in the face. The beam held, eating away at the heavy weapon ammo at a rapid pace. Right when it was about to hit the end of the clip the creature began to falter before it lit up in an explosion.

Jane let out a whoop as John chuckled and looked over to her. "New favorite toy?" She laughed as she moved to hand it back to him. He raised a brow as she tapped the blade on her back.

"As much fun as it is, it is a distance weapon and we both know how I like to get all up close and personal." John laughed once more as they all moved towards the tower. He stood and clicked a few buttons before radioing EDI to fire away. The GARDIAN turrets only got to fire off a few shots before the collector ship began to retreat. John watched it go with anger in his face as Jane bumped Garrus and tilted her head to the side. "We have company..."

Garrus glanced over to see the man from the garage come running out demanding that they stop the ship. Garrus raised his shoulders and joined John in watching the ship until another voice caused them all to look over.

Another human male joined the one from the garage. He was dressed in military garb and seemed a little standoffish as he approached the group. John on the other hand seemed relieved as he moved over holding out his hand.

"Kaidan! Damn, man it's good to see you.. I thought the collectors had got you..." Kaidan took his hand and gave a slight nod as he shook it. It was odd to see him act this way. John and Kaidan had bonded on the hunt for Saren. Both biotics within the military, they had quite a few things in common. But now Kaidan seemed reluctant to even shake his hand.

"Shepard - I thought you were dead..." His eyes drifted past John to land on Garrus, who gave him a small nod, then to Jane, who almost seemed to be hiding behind Garrus. Kaidan moved past the men to take hold of her shoulders.

"Jane? What are you doing here?" She looked to him and gave a soft shy smile as she took a step back causing him to let go of her shoulders.

"I'm helping my brother fight the collectors. What does it look like I'm doing?" She seemed a little put off by the man that was in front of her. Garrus couldn't help but take a step closer to her so that he seemed more on her side. He had never really gotten along with the human before and if he had wronged Jane he had all the more reason to detest him. John moved forward to spin Kaidan so he looked to him.

"What do you mean, what is she doing here? How do you know my sister?" His eyes moved past Kaidan to Jane. After a second a look crossed his face that almost said, 'No, you didn't.' She shook her head and moved forward.

"I met him at your funeral. I couldn't talk to Joker about what happened, poor guy was far to torn up. So I went to the second source," She held up her hand to indicate Kaidan. "I wanted to learn what happened to you. So we went out for drinks and talked about it."

Kaidan seemed to not care what they were saying as he turned back to her. "Is this why you didn't stay on the citadel? Did you know John was alive? Did you leave so you could run off and join Cerberus with him?" Jane seemed taken aback by his accusations and was about to respond when John stepped in.

"First off, I wasn't alive. I've been on an operation table in a coma or something for the last two years as I was rebuilt. Jane didn't know anymore than you did. I found her by chance on Omega. And we aren't working for Cerberus. It's more like I'm working with them in the joined effort to stop the collectors."

Kaidan scuffed as he took a step away from them. His eyes moved over them all before he shook his head. "I can't believe you all. John, joining the enemy. Don't you remember all those experiments that we found left by Cerberus? And Garrus. You being here is a real surprise." He didn't linger on the two men as he turned once more on Jane. "And you ran off to Omega? You didn't even let me know where you were going or anything. I thought you owed me that much..."

Once again Jane seemed at a loss for words. Then she held up her hands giving them a small wave. "Kaidan.. It was one night. Just drinks..." The last statement seemed to be more to reassure her brother standing behind Kaidan. "It was nothing. I owed you nothing. I left to find a better use of myself than the alliance that was slandering my brother and using his image for their own gain."

Now it was Kaidan's turn to be taken back as he looked her over. "I thought we had a connection. But I guess not." He took a few steps back and now looked over John. "I know where my loyalties lie Shepard. You are betraying those loyalties. I wish I could say it was good seeing you all." With that he turned and began to walk away.

Garrus heard Jane give a soft growl beside him as she watched the man move away. To his other side John radioed the shuttle. Garrus couldn't help but agree with him. He had had all of Horizon he could handle for a long time.

The shuttle ride back was quiet and tense. John spent the whole ride sitting next to the window, staring out into the space around them. Jane sat beside Garrus, her eyes never leaving her brother. There was a slight glare in her gaze as she seemed to be thinking something over. Garrus was almost afraid to begin a conversation. And he was beyond relieved as the shuttle landed in the cargo area.

As he stepped off the shuttle last he watched as Jane made a B-line for her brother. He was about to say something when she called out to him. "Are you off to run and hide in your cabin? Are you going off to sulk?"

John spun around with a glare that equaled her own as he pointed to her as she continued to move towards him. "Not now Jane, I'm not in the mood. Find someone else." He turned away just in time for Jane to grab his shoulder and spin him into her fist against the side of his face. As he staggered back she began to move forward.

"Yes now! You always do the same crap over and over. You need to learn to vent!" She moved forward to hit him once more but instead John raised a hand to catch the punch. Pulling her arm up he used her momentum to spin her around so her back was against his chest and his arm that held her hand was across her chest. But Jane didn't falter in her attack. Leaning forward first, she drove her head back towards John's head.

He seemed to be expecting it as he leaned his head to the side to dodge the attack. But while he was distracted by that Jane drove her elbow into the side of his armor that was the least shielded. As he stepped back once more she took the chance to bring up her leg and kick out square into his chest. Spinning around she seemed to be aiming a kick to the side of his head. But by now he had regained his balance and was able to catch her foot.

Twisting it to the side her forced her to fall chest forward into the ground with a small 'oof.' He moved towards her and landed on top of her as she rolled to her back. Her hands came up to shield her face as he began to send punch after punch at her. She seemed to be holding her own against the assault. After a moment it seemed that John was losing the energy that was fueling his attacks. And when he paused between punches she moved quickly and struck him on the bridge of his nose. Falling back and to the side he laid for a moment catching his breath.

Garrus had watched the exchange with a great amount of interest. He had seen siblings go at each other on many occasions but usually they were both fully in the fight. It almost seemed as if Jane was letting John lose his anger on her. After a few minutes he moved over to look down on both of them.

John sat up and chuckled slightly before moving to his feet. Leaning down he held out a hand to his sister. She smiled as she took the offering and was pulled to her feet. Garrus watched the silent exchange of John smiling to her as she reached out and gave a small light punch to his shoulder. He returned the gesture before turning and moving to the elevator.

Garrus watched him leave as Jane moved to stand beside him. She smirked as the doors closed behind John. "That get you hot Garrus? I still have a little fight left in me." He laughed slightly as he looked down to her. It seemed that while she had done a good job blocking John, she hadn't been perfect. He reached out and tapped her already blue cheek bone.

"Looks like you are already going to pay for this fight. Might not be a good idea to add more to it." She laughed as she began to move to the elevator herself. She stood for a few minutes waiting for it, but she seemed to be lost in thought. As the doors finally opened she stepped in and turned to look at him.

"I kinda like it rough. Just for future reference." He laughed and waved a hand as the doors began to shut. "I'm sure you do Jane."

It was as the doors were about to close and she sent him a wink that he did realize just what was being said. He gave a soft growl and raised a hand to his face. Was there ever a time when he would not be completely awkward when it came to flirting?


	7. Chapter 7

Hello my freaky little darlings. Happy Halloween dears. I just got back from trick or treating with my son who was dressed as a small Joker in the Cerberus uniform. I hope you are all having a wonderful and safe night. Thank you for the wonderful reviews from the last chapter. You guys make me smile like this ^.^

I know this chapter is short but I have a lot going on at school right now that I feel a little bogged down. You will get along real chapter next time, I promise. But for now let me know what you think. I also have question for you all. Would you rather I write the lyrics of parts of the songs Jane sings or would you rather me leave it how I have been doing it?

_Disclaimer: None of this I own... Well maybe Jane, a little.. But nothing else really._

There was something about the smell of the armory that made Garrus feel at home. Sure it had a little mix of different smells that was due in part to Jacob, but there was still that undertone of metal, gun oil and heat sinks that made him to think of Palaven as he looked over the new rifle selections that John had brought to the ship.

It had been quite a while since he upgraded from his trusted Mantis but after everything he had been through with that rifle it was starting to show its mileage and at the moment he would rather keep it as a memento than lose it to overuse. And what better time to shop from the selection than when John was on Illium acquiring the newest member to the team.

He was looking over the specs of two different rifle mods when EDI's voice echoed over the com in the room. "Mr. Taylor, the shore party has returned." Garrus looked up and over towards the human he had forgotten about. Jacob looked up from whatever it was he was doing and gave a small nod. "On my way."

Garrus watched as the human left the room, assuming that Jacob was charged with escorting the new member to the debriefing room. His guess was confirmed a few minutes later when he returned with a drell following with his hands clasped behind his back, large eyes studying everything. Behind the men followed Jane and Jack, the away team for this mission.

"This is the armory as you can see. Where all weapons are kept as well as the different selections that you can choose from if you wish to upgrade." Jacob explained to the drell who gave a small nod of understanding before they disappeared into the hallway outside of the debriefing room. Behind him the girls paused to remove their weapons all the while whispering to each other. As the doors shut Garrus turned to cross his arms and look the girls over.

"Having fun?" He flashed a small smile as Jane looked to him with a smile of her own. She placed a hand on her hip as her eyes moved to the door the men had disappeared behind. Her smile turning into a large grin.

"You could say that... A lovely time, out and about. Wind in my hair, visiting the locals. You know, the usual." A scuff was heard from the side and they both move their attention to Jack as she unstrapped her assault rifle and put it away. Her gaze moved up to both of them before she raised her hands in defence.

"I like killing ass fucks as much as the next girl but walking across a bridge, with no railing, at fucking who knows how high, makes me much rather stay home..." She gave a small snort as she raised a thumb to point towards Jane. "Wonder girl here just about danced on the edge 'letting the wind get in her hair.' And they call me the crazy one."

Jane laughed as she raised her shoulder and looked to Garrus who was giving her a weary look. "I can't help it. There is a sort of peace in the wind. Makes me almost wish I was a biotic so I could lift myself." She laughed once more as Jack shook her head. The tattooed woman then leaned slightly to give the redhead a small punch in the arm.

"You heading down to the mess now?" Jane looked over to shake her head with a small smile. Turning she began to walk backwards so she could still talk to Jack as she moved towards the door that lead to the debriefing room and lab.

"I was requested by Mordin to help with something he has going on in the lab. John pulled me away before I could get there but now I have free time." She raised her shoulders in an 'oh well' shrug that Jack laughed at. The bald woman turned and began to move towards the exit.

"Suit yourself, Hot Top. Have fun.." With that Jack was out of the room. As Jane moved past Garrus she reached out and placed a hand on his arm, a way to let him know she was moving behind him. Looking up he offered another smile which she returned. As she was about to disappear behind the door he called out to her.

"So 'hot top' huh?" She paused to lean her head back through the door with a small smile. She pointed to her hair and raised a shoulder. "You know, red like fire. Fire is hot..."

He put his weapon down and his subharmonics sang a sound of amusement. "Fire is hot? You don't say..." Her cheeks tinted a small shade of red as she stuck out her tongue for a second. With that she turned and let the doors shut behind her.

It only took him a few more minutes to select the rifle that felt right in his hands after adding his chosen mods. As he was putting away his new weapon, the doors opened to admit John, Jacob and the drell. John gave him a grin as he held a hand out to him.

"This is Garrus. He is one of the best snipers I've ever seen and handles the main battery on most occasions." He tilted his head towards the drell as he now spoke to Garrus. "This is our newest team member, Thane Krios."

For a few moments they seemed to be studying each other. It was Garrus who moved first to hold out his hand. As Krios took the offered hand and shook it, John seemed to relax slightly at their side. He was about to say something as a smile rose to his lip when singing reached their ears. All the men turned to look towards the hallway that led to the lab. John gave a sigh and held out his hand.

"That would be my sister, Jane. You will have to excuse her singing, she tends to do it... well she does it pretty much all the time. You might as well meet her and Dr. Solus." Thane gave a small nod as he turned to follow John. Garrus, now with nothing to do, decided that he might as well follow. Thane spoke as they moved towards the door, the singing becoming more clear and a little louder. "At least the sound is pleasant to the ear. I once heard a woman singing at a bar that held a strong comparison to an elcor."

John laughed as they made their way down the small hall. The door opened and he moved in and stepped to the side to allow in Garrus and Thane. As the two stepped in they were greeted with an odd sight.

Dr. Solus stood at the counter holding up some sort of liquid filled tube as he hummed along with the song that could be heard playing from the open omni-tool on the table. Jane stood with her back towards them, bent over the table, studying whatever was in the petri dish in front of her. Her hips swayed slightly to the beat as she sang, oblivious to the men who just entered the room.

A sly grin grew on John's face as he slowly crept towards her. Garrus looked over to Thane who seemed to be watching him with an inquisitive gaze. Garrus's eyes moved back to John just in time to see him grab Jane's waist and give a small yell. Garrus bit back a grin as he watched Jane jump up. John seemed ready for her reaction as she spun with a punch aimed straight for his jaw. His hand caught her fist just a few inches from his large grin.

A small growl echoed from her as she pulled her fist away. "Damn it, John, don't do that..." He chuckled as he moved to lean on the table facing them as she turned back to look at the dish. "But you make such a tempting target when you are in the zone. I can't help it." He raised his shoulders as he looked down to what she was doing with curiosity. "What are you working on?"

It was Mordin that spoke in Jane's place as she wrote down a few notes. "Appears a case of scale itch has made an appearance amongst the crew. Quite an interesting turn for a mostly human crew from Cerberus. Working on treatment and detecting where it spurred from in effort to prevent future recurrences." Mordin spoke without looking away from the tubes. Garrus couldn't help but shudder slightly at the thought of the illness. It was never something that he enjoyed to hear about. He could feel the drell shift slightly beside him. Apparently he had the same feeling on the itch.

John turned his head to look down at his sister with narrowed eyes. It took a moment for her to turn her head to look at him. There was a second before she stood straight again and placed her hands on her hips. "What?" He tilted his head to the side in a knowing way. Jane rolled her eyes as she turned to lean against the table with him. "It wasn't me, ass. I've kept my pants on, thank you very much. If you want my guess I think I would be having a chat with your yeoman."

John sighed and shook his head before pushing away from the table and moving over to the drell. Holding his hand out to indicate the science pair he smiled to him. "Thane, this is Dr. Mordin Solus and my sister Jane Nash."

Thane stepped forward and gave a small bow of his head in greeting. "It is a pleasure to meet you both." Jane turned fully to face him with a smile. She held out a hand to him which he took lightly and shook. "I watched how you took out those guards. It was quite skillful if I must say."

Thane's gaze seemed to be interested as his head tilted to the side slightly. "I have spent many years honing my body to be the perfect weapon. If I could not dispose of a few guards at that close of a range then I would have wasted most of my life."

Jane smiled as she pulled her hand back to put it on her hip. "If you ever find a spare moment I wouldn't mind a one on one session. I might learn a few things..." John stepped in to pull Jane back slightly. He gave Thane a small smile as he then turned to look at Jane. "You will have to excuse my sister. She is skilled in most hand to hand styles and things herself amazing." She raised an elbow to hit him slightly in the side. Her eyes narrowed at him before she pulled out of his grasp.

"I'm not a child, Rex. I can look out for myself." Thane looked the girl in front of him over and gave a small nod. His gaze then turned to John with another tilt of his head. "Do not fear, Commander. I know how to spar properly. I will refrain from doing harm to her, if she wishes to learn." Jane gave a small nod and was about to speak once more when she was interrupted from a voice behind her.

"An inquiry for you. Rex. Not a name that the Commander is listed as going by. Not a title or birth name. Called in a mocking manner. Do not quite understand." Jane paused and laughed slightly as she turned to look at the salarian behind her. She shook her head.

"It's a nickname of sort. Rex is an overly common name for an earth pet that is used as a guard. It's my way of calling John overprotective. Human's use nicknames on many occasions, sometimes to tease but on most occasion humans just establish nicknames for people that are close to them. Especially if they are in a relationship with each other."

Mordin nodded slightly as it was clear he was in deep thought. After a few seconds he took a large breath and looked to her once more. "Nicknames for loved ones I have heard. Not understanding a few. Deer, animal sometimes slaughtered for game. Babe, baby animal that lingers and consumes food in the same location that it relieves itself. Baby, human offspring. Is it common to wish that your significant other be your own spawn?"

Garrus couldn't fight the smile that spread across his face. He noticed how John raised his fist to cover his chuckle while even the drell's lips twitched in a small smile. Jane sighed as she seemed to be in thought. Then she gave a small nod.

"It's not that people wish to marry or be in a relationship with their child. Baby is used to call someone that you love unconditionally. Someone that you couldn't live without, or at least feel as though you couldn't. It's someone that you want to take care of and protect." She gave a small laugh as she raised her shoulders. "It's something that started long, long ago. I'm not sure who was the first to call their significant other 'baby' but it's something that seemed to stick in the human language."

John chuckled as he moved over to place a hand on Jane's shoulder with a small shake of his head. "And with that I think I will take my leave." His gaze turned to Thane and gave him a small nod. "I have a few things to take care of up here." His eyes moved to Garrus, slightly pleading. "Garrus would you be able to show him around the rest of the ship and to life support?"

Garrus gave a small nod as he looked over towards the drell. "Of course, there is nothing else going on right now." John gave a small nod as he gave everyone a smile before he moved towards the exit. Jane made a small sigh as she turned back towards Thane and flashed him a smile.

"I'm just down the hall from you. If you have any questions or have free time don't hesitate to visit me." Another smile was flashed as Thane gave her a small nod of thanks. A weird feeling began to build inside of Garrus. It felt a little like being protective but there was something else. He pushed that thought to the back of his mind as he led the drell out of the room and towards the elevator.

A silence hung between them at first as the elevator slowly began to creep down a floor. After a few minutes Thane spoke, his gaze set on the wall in front of him. "The Commanders sister is quite interesting, is she not? Very open and friendly..."

Garrus turned his head slightly so that he could look the drell over. Deep black orbs turned to gaze at him. Garrus didn't know what was going on but he was starting to feel as though he was being rubbed the wrong way. Something inside of him was telling him to keep the drell away from Jane. He labeled it as his dedication to John and having his back when he wasn't around. He gave a small nod.

"She is very friendly to most people. I have meet very few people who see people like she does, just as people without prejudice. It's always interesting to have conversations with her." The drell gave a small nod as the doors opened.

"I will have to do just that." He looked back towards Garrus as he stepped out. "Which way is the life support?" Garrus pointed over towards the door with the large human writing beside it. The drell gave a small nod of thanks before looking around the floor. Garrus stepped out and started to point out areas as he talked. "The medical bay is right there, next to the mess. You will find the CO Miss Lawson in that room over there. Towards the back is the main battery where you can find me." He turned and began to point out the rooms. "The restrooms are on either side of the hallway with the crew quarters opposite of you."

Thane moved into the hallway and looked either direction before turning to look back towards Garrus. "And where might Miss Nash's quarters be?" Garrus's mandibles twitched slightly as he looked down the hall.

"Jane's room is right down the hall at the very end." He wanted to add that she wasn't in there most of the time or that she liked to be alone but those were lies. But still he wanted to say something to keep the drell from being interested in his best friends sister.

The green man turned his dark orbs down the hall to study the door before giving Garrus a small nod. "I believe I will retire for now to meditate. Thank you once more for the small tour of the ship." He gave one last nod before moving to disappear into life support. Garrus watched him go and came to the conclusion that he did not fully trust this assassin. He was going to have to keep a sharp eye on him, especially around Jane.


	8. Chapter 8

Sorry about such a late update my dears. It is finals week and it really took me all week to write this chapter. You most likely won't get anything else out of me until finals are all over in a week. Until then I am studying and working on projects. Wait for me my darlings..

_Disclaimer: Still not mine. But Christmas is coming up so cross your fingers..._

The door opening to the main battery usually meant that John was coming for a visit. But with John away on a mission and the harsh smell that assaulted his nose, it was clear that that was not the case. Turning quickly with his hand over his nose Garrus's eyes grew slightly at the sight in front of him.

Jane stood with a large grin across her face, one that he had grown used to seeing quite often. She was dressed in a large white Cerberus shirt that almost looked like it was covered with human blood around the neck area. Her hair was pulled up and seemed glued to the top of her head by some sort of gel that was the source of the harsh chemical smell. He took a small step back as his eyes narrowed slightly. "What the hell is on your head?"

Jane's eyes moved up as if she was trying to look at the hair on the top of her head. Her smile grew as her hands locked behind her back. "It's dye." She seemed to believe that was such a simple answer. Like he would understand what she was doing and why dye was on her head.

"Okay, so dye. Why is there dye on your head?" His eyes watched as she moved over to sit on the crate that usually was John's perch when he visited him. As she sat he reached out his hand not covering his nose in an attempt to stop her. "Don't get that stuff everywhere."

She chuckled once more as she sat up straight so that her back and head did not rest on the wall behind her. She gave a small tilt of her head as she studied him. "Don't worry. I used to do this all the time. I'm a pro really." With her chuckle he relaxed slightly as a small trill of confusion filled the room. He was at a complete loss. Just what was this human doing?

She seemed to pick up on the sound and gave a small sigh. "Human hair is one of our defining features. It's something that we have that is completely different than anyone elses. Sure, you could have the same color as another person but the style and texture would be different." Her eyes moved to look up at a small little curl that fell slightly to the middle of her forehead. She raised a finger to push it back to place. Slowly her eyes moved back to him.

"John and I share a similar hair color. As you know I always tried to branch away from being marked as his sister. Taking a different last name. Changing my military field. I even dyed my hair so that we didn't share that common feature. I was always trying to be my own person." Garrus chuckled slightly as he slowly lowered his hand, having gotten somewhat used to the smell. A small smirk rose to her lips as she gave him a look that seemed to urge him to explain.

"I don't think I would ever think of you as a John copy. There is no one saying you are not your own person. You might have similar traits and sure, I have compared you. But your personality makes you stand out far from anyone else." He chuckled once more as he leaned back on the console behind him. He couldn't help but notice the bright blush that seemed to spread across her face as her eyes moved away slightly. Had he embarrassed her? Or maybe she was flattered? EIther way she had not been expecting that from him. Nonetheless she continued with her explanation with her eyes trained on the floor.

"Even with that, people who didn't know us personally would simply look at us and see a copy. Our mother even felt that way. She never said it out straight but it was clear that she saw John as her successful child while I was always the runner up. Anything I did was always second best to John. To gain her praise I could not just be as good as him, I had to completely surpass him." She gave a small chuckle as her eyes finally moved to look back at him. "And then he saved the Citadel. How do you beat that?"

She rose as she began to pace slightly around the room. Garrus gave a small nod as he watched her. Of course he didn't fully understand, having a younger sister. But he understood not being able to rise up to a parents expectations. He himself never seemed to be able to make his father proud. Nothing he did seemed to be quite what his father expected of him. His thoughts were halted as she paused and turned to him.

"I stopped dying my hair after John went down with the Normandy. I didn't take his name back and I didn't change my field to honor him. But by keeping my hair the color that I had shared with him, it was like a small salute to him. A way to think about him every now and then, keep a little of him alive."

Garrus's mandibles clicked slightly in a turian grin as he looked her over. "But now he's back and you don't have to keep that memento?" She smiled and pointed to him. "Bingo!" Garrus tilted his head in confusion at her exclamation. Her grin rose higher as she gave a small shake of her head. "It means 'exactly' or 'right on the mark'." She gave a wave of her hand as she moved back over to the crate. "Just another human saying that would make no sense to explain."

He chuckled slightly as he moved over to sit next to her on the crate. Leaning back he looked over the dark substance all over the top of her head. "So human hair can be dyed... You know when I first saw hair I thought it was like colony markings. That humans with the same color of hair were from the same family group."

She smiled to him as she shifted so she could look at him, one leg pulled up onto the crate. "You know you are almost right. Long long ago, before humans began to travel to different lands on Earth it was kinda true. Different nationalities had hair colors that seemed to be linked to the nation. But as humans began to travel and mix, it was all lost. So now hair does not define a nationality or family. It just defines the person."

Her eyes grew sad for a moment as they drifted down to her foot. Her hand rose to her neck where her necklace usually hung with the turian military tag. She must have removed it to keep the nasty dye off of it. Garrus gave a small tilt of his head as his subharmonics began to sing a little song of uncertainty as well as worry. Her eyes moved to him quickly, which took him aback. He knew that she seemed to be able to hear his subharmonics, but he never thought that she completely understood what they meant. Now he wasn't so sure as she gave a small shake of her head. Her smile was back as she looked to him.

"It's nothing, really. Just thinking of something that I shouldn't." Her smile rose to her lips once more as her omni-tool beeped. She stood up and looked down to him. "Time to go wash it out and see how I did."

He gave a small nod as he watched her move towards the door. As it opened he called out to her, "Come back when you are done!" He paused for a second as he realized how demanding that sounded. "So I can see how it looks?" He added timidly. Her eyes moved to him in what looked to be a small state of shock. After a moment the shock wore away to her smile as she nodded and turned back to move down the hall. As the door shut Garrus sighed and let his head fall back to rest on the wall behind him.

Where did he come off acting like a child like that? It wasn't like he wouldn't see her again. And she very well might have had plans to come back anyway. John had taken Jack and Thane on this mission. This mission. It was one of the ones he really would have loved to have been on. It would have been good to see Tali again. Especially if she decided not to join John while he worked with Cerberus.

But John had left him aboard once more. Was it because of all the new crew, he had to test their skills? Last time around there were only five others besides him. Well that was until Virmire. Then their was only four other crew. And with John always taking two at a time and the amount of missions they had, they switched out regularly. Now there were over twice that many. And he never really got a chance to work with any of them. Whenever John picked him for a mission Jane was always coming along with them.

He didn't mind Jane, in fact he quite enjoyed her company. But it seemed John always kept them together. Was his friend trying to hint at something? Surely not. He had given him a warning about other males getting near his beloved sister. There was no way John would be pushing everyone else away just to try and set them up. Would he?

Garrus gave a frustrated growl and raised his hands to his face as he leaned forward. This was getting twisted and corrupted right in his mind. He didn't even know if he was attracted to Jane. Sure, she was fun to be around and he preferred her company to almost anyone on the ship besides John. But that didn't mean that he was ready to jump her or anything like that.

Actually he had never really thought about that before. He had never been attracted to a human. Sure, he had had a few flings with asari, but they were closer to a turian than a human. Lets face it, almost all species were attracted to asaris. It was just how they were built. The question was how close were humans to asari? Was it enough to find a common interest? He had known a few other turians that had been attracted to humans. Something about liking their soft features, mostly in the chest area. Once in C-Sec he overheard one of his fellow officers commenting on how frail a human could feel but at the same time they could take more than you would expect. So maybe there was something interesting there.

Another growl was torn from him as he laid his head back once more, his hands still covering his face. Just what the hell was he thinking? They were getting ready to walk right up to the gates of hell, kick the door in and start shooting up the place. It would be a miracle if any of them lived. This was no time to be thinking about this sort of thing. At least not that he thought. The last thing he needed was to put a mission in danger because he was worried about a fellow crewmate.

His thoughts were halted as the door swished open. A smile rose to his mandibles as he thanked her for her timing. Any more thought process in that direction and he may be in trouble.

"Have you even moved since I left?" Her voice drifted closer as he listened. Suddenly cold glass brushed against his arm. Out of shock he gave a small jump and took his hands away from his face so he could look at the offending item. There in front of him was what appeared to be a cold glass of turian brandy. He smirked and reached out to take the glass.

"You have no idea how much I needed this..." His eyes drifted up from the glass to where she stood just a foot from him. He took note that the ruined Cerberus shirt had been discarded for a simple black top that had a low neck and no sleeves. As his eyes moved up further he saw red.

Around her hair the smell of chemicals still lingered but there was a sweeter scent tied in, her hair soap most likely. But what really got him was the color. It was such a bright vivid color of red in the upper area while in the lower area it seemed to be a deep burning red, almost a black red. It was quite fetching and he had to admit that it suited her.

He noticed that he was staring very blatantly at her so he moved back and brought the drink to his lip plates. After a small sip he gave her a nod and rose to his feet.

"That is a good color. Very... daring if I may say so..." His hand not holding his glass reached out to run the back of one finger down a strand that framed her face. As his finger cleared her chin he trapped the curled strand between his finger and his thumb. Slowly he pulled the hair up so that he could feel the texture but not hurt her.

"Hair is such an oddity to me. Its dead, or so I have been told. But it acts almost alive, being able to be flat one minute or have curls the next. You can dye it and change its color. I don't think I have come across anything like it before." His eyes moved to her face and became rooted to the spot. Her face was almost the same shade of red as her hair. Her eyes were trained on the ground as a small teasing smirk worked its way to her lips.

"Damn Garrus, if you get this forward from one sip I'm getting you drunk more often." Her eyes moved to his and he would have been mortified if it wasn't for her look that told him she wasn't being serious. Slowly he let the strand slip from his fingers. Taking a step back he raised his hand in mocking defence.

"In just did something I shouldn't have, didn't I?" She chuckled slightly as her fingers rose to move the strand behind her ear. A smile grew on her face as she looked away from him once more. "It all depends really..."

She chuckled as she moved over the take a seat on the crates. Her eyes found him as she began her explanation. "Humans, as you may be aware have a wide variety of meanings for gestures and words. We really don't have a specific set of rules most of the time." Her hand rose to run her fingers through her hair. "Touching someone's hair, a girls hair, could mean different things. A small gentle ruffing of the hair could be playful, caring gesture while the same gesture but a little rougher could be viewed as bullying. Running your hand through someone's hair could be admiration or envy of the hair or if done gentle, as you did, it could be viewed as romantic, or very personal. Almost on the same level as stroking a turian fringe."

Garrus's eyes grew wide as he took a small step back. Had he really done something so personal? Something so intimate? He moved to apologize, to give her some sort of explanation, but she held up a hand followed with a smile. "It is alright. I know that you did not mean it that way. Just keep a mental note for next time."

She smiled once more as she took a sip of the bright pink liquid in her glass. Relieve filled him as he took a drink of his own glass. That was something he need to remember for the future. He told himself that it was to make sure it never happened again.

As they sat in comfortable silence, drinking, Garrus could tell there was something on her mind. She would look up to him for a moment, seemed like she was going to say something, then she would halt the action, take a sip of her drink and look away. After about the fourth time his subharmonics sang out in confusion with a small hint of curiosity. She gave a huff and gave him a look that seem to fit all too well on a child caught red handed stealing candy.

"Look, I wanted to say I'm sorry..." His was so surprised by her sudden apology that he was speechless. What could she be sorry for? Had she done something that she thought might have offended him? Once again the species barrier blocked him.

The clueless look on his face seemed to tell her he had no idea what she was talking about. She gave a small sigh as she brought her feet up on the crate and let her arms lay out straight across her knees. "It's not fair that John leaves you on the ship all the time to look after me. You are a good shot and he would really benefit from having you on the ground team. But it seems you are the only one he trusts to watch over me when he's not around. Not that I think I need to be looked after..." She raised the glass to her lips as her eyes finally moved to him having been trained on the floor during her whole explanation.

Garrus was slightly taken aback. This answered his question earlier that was tearing his brain apart. John wasn't trying to set him up with Jane. He wanted him to fill in for him when he was off the ship. How could he not have seen it before? He chuckled slightly as he looked to her and shook his head.

"John has plenty of help for the ground missions. I learned on our last trip that John needs help in different areas. This isn't my mission. Wherever John needs me to be I will be. There is a reason he is leading this suicide hell mission." He studied her face as a small smile grew. After a minute she stood and moved over to stand beside him leaning against the console. Leaning slightly she bumped his arm with her shoulder.

"I didn't know you were such a good turian." He could hear the tease in her voice but he still felt like he needed to correct her. "Actually I like to think myself a bad turian. Especially if you hear what my father has to say about me."

A small laugh escaped her form as she looked up to him. "So is it my witty humor or my devilish good looks that makes it okay?" He couldn't help but return the smile as he tilted his head to the side. One finger rose to his lip plates as he seemed to think over something.

"I don't know about that... It may be the constant state of delusion you seem to be in. Don't want you to hurt yourself, the crew or even worse, myself." He chuckled as she punched his arm lightly.

"Ass..." They both shared a small laugh right before her omni-tool lit up. Pushing of the console she opened it as she spoke and slowly paced the room. "Must be John on his way back. Checking to make sure I haven't blown anything up with Mordin or maybe tried to jump someone." She chuckled as she opened the message and began to read.

As she did so Garrus turned away and took a sip of his drink. He hated the idea of watching people when they read a private ping. It almost felt like looking over their shoulders. And that was just no polite behavior. He was about to make a comment about John when he heard the crash of glass hitting the ground.

Garrus turned quickly to look her over. What could the ping have said to make her drop her glass? Had something on the mission gone wrong? Did they get there too late to save Tali? Or worse, had something happened to John? If so, what would happen to this whole mission? Before he could get too carried away he let his eyes study Jane. He was not a pure expert on human expressions, but her look did not say fear or worry. Her eyes were narrowed in an evil glare that would make stronger men shrink back. Her hand that had been holding her glass was now in a white knuckle fist. Even with his inexperience he could tell, she was beyond pissed.

When she spoke she did not look up to him or move. She just simply stood her ground glaring at the message as if she meant to disintegrate is with her gaze alone. "It's a message... from Sidonis..." Garrus's eyes narrowed just as hers did. A song of anger in his subharmonics joined a deep growl that almost shook his body. Damn his manners and what was polite. He was going to see that message.

He moved over to her after setting his glass down, he didn't want to have even more broken glass to clean up. As he stopped behind her he leaned down so he could look over her shoulder, his front almost pushed against her back but neither seemed to notice. "Are you sure it's from him?"

She gave a small nod as she turned her face so that she could see him more clearly. "Yeah... He's the only one that calls me Ja-Na.. It's the first two letters from my two names." She waved her hand slightly at his confused glance as she looked back to the message. "It came from a drinking game we played one night. You know sometimes the jokes last until the next day? Well that one lasted a little longer than that..."

Garrus gave a small nod as he looked back to the message. He couldn't stop the snarl that escaped him as he read the message. Reading it over it really did seem like Sidonis.

_Ja-Na, If you are getting this that means you are alright. I have been thinking about you and what I did. I can't say much. Just know that I've been thinking about you. I don't think I'll ever cross your path again, Fist is making sure of that. But if I do, I hope we can have a drink together, for old times sake. Take care of yourself Ja-Na. Spirits guide you._

Garrus read over it three times before he turned and began to pace. Already ideas began to filter through his mind. He needed to get to this Fist. Find him and then find Sidonis. But where should he start? He may have to call in some old C-Sec favors. He looked up to Jane who was watching him all too clearly. She was waiting on him, this was mainly his revenge. It was very honorable of her if he thought about it.

"Are you still game for helping me get him back?" She scuffed slightly before raising her hand to point to her forehead. "I promised remember? We are in this together. Besides," she crossed her arms as she moved over to lean near the door. "You read what it says. He is trying to kiss up to me. Like he knew if you made it out of the Blue Suns then I would come after him. It would be real easy for me to get him in a position that would be good for us." She scuffed again as she looked away. When she spoke at first it was in a mocking fashion. "'Oh Ja-Na, I'm so sorry I did a bad. Please don't be mad. I'm thinking about you. I promise.' How stupid does he think I am? Like a simple 'I'm sorry' would make up for handing me over to the Suns and leaving me there to die."

He gave a nod with a small hint of a smile. It was kind of good to not feel alone in this. With help it would be far easier to accomplish their goal. He turned and began to click away at his private terminal.

"I'm going to pull some string that I still have at C-Sec to find out who this Fist guy is. As soon as I do we can get a shuttle and get to where he is. From their we may have to do some... interrogation to get the answer we want but -" He was halted by small fingers wrapping around his arm. He paused in his typing and looked down to her.

"Tell John. He would understand. And I'm sure he would rather take the ship to a port that we pick so he could get repairs done and get supplies as we do our task than to lose us for an unknown amount of time off to somewhere unknown. Besides he might even want to help."

She leaned in closer like what she was going to say was a secret. But with his adrenaline running now and his blood pumping other thoughts were going through his mind. Now he was all too aware of how close she was. How her little fingers were gripping his arm tightly but not too tight. How her body was pressed so very close to his. The way the light was catching her hair and giving her a bright glow. The soft, delicate scent that he couldn't quite place surrounding her. Maybe the thoughts he had had a few minutes ago were not so outlandish and bizarre. Giving a slight mental shake of his head he tuned back into what she was saying.

"John told me the other day that more and more people were approaching him about unfinished business. He wants a team with clear minds as he goes to face the collectors. So he plans to make sure everyone's lose strings are tied." He gave a small nod as she pulled away from him and took a step back.

"We will get him Garrus... And he will pay..." There was a moment where she seemed to be thinking about something. Subconsciously her arms drifted to cover her chest and stomach. Garrus watched her slightly retreat before giving a small trill of confusion. He realized that when it came to this woman he might as well stay in a constant state of singing his confusion. Everything she did seemed to be so odd and unexplained. Her eyes moved to him as she waved it off before turning to the pile of glass.

"Sorry about the mess... I'll get something to clean it up with." She turned to move out of the room but was halted as Garrus grabbed her wrist. Soft stormy blue eyes meet fierce blue ones. He couldn't explain the sudden need to comfort her, she just seemed to need a friend at the moment. He was about to say something when the door opened to John.

Quickly Garrus dropped her wrist and stepped away. Jane gave her brother a small nod as she moved the side of the door. John's eyebrows rose as he looked between the two of them. "Am I interrupting something?" He seemed a little wary but Jane stepped in to save him.

"Not at all. I was about to get something to clean up the glass I dropped. I stumbled and Garrus caught me so I wouldn't fall in the glass." Her eyes turned to Garrus who gave a small nod of agreement. He wasn't quite sure why she was lying to her brother, but if she felt the need to then he wasn't about to call her out on it. She moved over to pick up his almost empty glass. As she leaned she let her eyes move to his and she whispered to him. "Now is your chance. Tell him everything. He will be on board. I promise."

As she moved away she gave him a small wink then looked to her brother. "I'll leave you two to guy talk. I'm sure there is a lot to talk about and I think I'm going to go check on Kasumi. When I last saw her she was muttering ominously over stacks of papers about boxes and guns and parties."

As she moved past John he looked up to Garrus with a wide grin. "We got Tali, Garrus. She is down in engineering!" Garrus chuckled slightly at John. He could already see a small bit of romance budding there. As the door was about to close he let his gaze move back up to watch Jane walk down the walk way. As she did she gave one last look back to him and waved her finger with a smile before the door finally shut.

There was no doubt now. He was going to end up in trouble. He knew it. He just didn't know if he would like it or not.


	9. Chapter 9

'I'm not dead yet!' I swear it... I have just been very lazy and slightly unmotivated... It took all of my break to get this chapter out. Oh just a fun note I did a fun doll game and created a Jane... Don't laugh.. It's the closest to fan art that I have.. So here is the link: #/d5oiwun If you are bored have fun... Alright that's it... enjoy

_Disclaimer__: __I__own__nothing__that__would__give__me__money__.. __If__I__did__chapters__would__come__quicker__..._

Garrus stepped out of the main battery with a datapad in hand. It was all set and planned out. It had only taken a little digging on his part to find his lead, a man by the name of Fist who was on the Citadel. A man who, for a certain amount of money, could make a person disappear. So all it would take was finding this Fist guy and have a simple 'chat' with him, then they would be one more step closer to finding Sidonis.

His eyes were trained on the datapad as he moved down the short walkway. He had planned to show Jane all of his findings first then take it to John. He couldn't help the excitement he was starting to feel at the prospect of finally getting his revenge. As he neared the kitchen area he heard John's raised voice. Looking up he found he was not the only spectator.

Almost all of the ground team and off duty crew sat at the tables around the room, watching as John seemed to be in a heated conversation with Kasumi. Looking around the room he couldn't seem to find Jane. Spotting Tali, he moved over to stand beside her as she leaned against the glass of the med lab.

"So what exactly is going on here?" The bright lights that served as Tali's eyes broke away from John and Kasumi to turn upon him. He could see the amusement in them as she gave a small tilt of her helmet towards the pair.

"It seems that our little thief joined our mission with a promise from Cerberus that she would be able to have a small mission completed for herself." Her lit eyes curved in a smile as she looked back towards John. "The discussion got louder when she wanted to take Jane over John..."

Garrus's head reared back slightly as he turned to follow the conversation. Of course John would be displeased with that. Overall this was his mission and he usually liked to have the control. And with how much he tended to keep Jane safe and tucked away, he was not going to stand by when she went on a mission, especially without him.

"Those were the terms that Cerberus agreed to. My mission, my decision." Kasumi seemed slightly entertained with the notion of John being upset. Her eyes shone as she crossed her arms and stared into John's eyes with a defiant gaze. Raising her finger it seemed she was trying to further her point. "I am in need of certain person to enter a party and persuade a certain 'bad guy'," now four of her fingers raising in the air to do air quotes, "that they are indeed on the guest list and to be a diversion if needed." Although Garrus could not see under her hood he was sure that Kasumi was now smirking quite largely. He could tell by the way her voice seemed to dance.

"And while you usually seem to do wonders in the ways of attraction, Commander, I do not think that you are this guy's type." She stood with her arms crossed and her chin raised as if to mock John. He stood with his hands planted on his hips in a defiant way. It seemed he wasn't quite ready to budge on the matter. He raised his finger to her as if to try another angle when a voice sounded from around the corner.

"She has a point John. Besides," Jane continued to speak as she stepped around the corner for all to see her. "I think this fits me a little bit better than it fits you. Though I think I would pay a large sum of credits to see you wear it."

Now, Garrus never had had a human fetish, as he told himself over and over. He could understand that there were some human women that human males seemed to fancy. They had those features that seemed to stand out against other humans. But he himself could not really understand the appeal of the large amount of fat stored on their chest or the desire to look at how long their legs were. But this, this was a completely different matter.

Jane was dressed in a tight black and red dress that seemed to hug every single curve and bend. So tight in fact that he could see an outline of the toned muscles that hid beneath the fabric. The bottom of the dress stopped somewhere between her hips and her knees, although he would have to say it favored more on the hip side, leaving her toned legs exposed. Her feet were in odd shoes that were as black as parts of the dress. On the back end on the shoes a large straight piece extended down to the floor causing her to stand on the very toes of her feet. That gave her even more height and forced her calve muscles to become even more firm. The top of her dress dipped low causing her whole upper chest to be exposed and almost inviting, even to someone like him who, until now, had never seen the attraction. Just like the undersuit she usually wore her arms were completely exposed and bare, showing the small stars that danced up her arm. The red in her dress seemed to match the deep new red of her hair, which now hung low down her back, far less curly than what it usually looked like.

What really caught his attention were the dark markings just around her eyes. He knew of makeup and how most women wore it but he had never seen it so successful as now, the dark black really causing the silvery-blue of her eyes to reach out and grab his attention. Her lips twisted in a smirk as her eyes moved to his and he noticed that her lips seemed to be stained a darker red. He couldn't help but feel a little flustered by her gaze. They lingered with their eyes locked far longer than what would be termed a glance. It seemed like she was searching for a reaction in his gaze. Luckily she looked away and towards John, which set him free from those silver blue orbs.

Looking around the room he took note that he was not the only male that was stunned by her looks. He even noted Thane, who before had been standing and leaning against the wall, now stood away from the wall with his hands hanging loosely by his side. It was the first time Garrus had seen the drell look startled. Good. At least he wasn't the only alien that was captivated by Jane's state.

"What the hell, Jane..." All eyes now moved from Jane over to John who seemed to be fuming as he took in Jane's state of dress. Taking a step towards her it almost seemed as if he was blocking her from the rest of the room. Though his voice was lowered it was still loud enough for Garrus to hear them.

"Why would you go behind my back like this? You know I like to oversee all the missions. I can't let you do this..." As he spoke he took her upper arm in his hand and pulled her slightly out of the way of everyone else. But it was clear from the look of determination on her face that Jane was not going to let that slide. She pulled her arm out of his grip and brought her finger back to poke him in the chest.

"The hell you can't. I'm not a little girl anymore, John. I passed all the tests to get my big girl card. I was even living _alone_. On _Omega__._ I have been taking care of myself since you died two years ago. You have no say over what I do or not do. Maybe you should take a look and see just how much has changed while you were being brought back from the land of the dead. I can do missions on my own. I can take care of myself. And I don't need a babysitter." Pulling away from him she looked past him towards Kasumi and gave her a nod. "I'll meet you in the drop ship..."

She gave John one last glare before turning and moving towards the elevator. The room became very uneasy as no one was sure what to say. Then suddenly everyone began to find other things of interest, turning to talk to one another or moving off to do meaningless tasks. Garrus stood with Tali, their attention on one of their closest friends who seemed unsure of just what to do.

Kasumi moved over to place a hand on John's shoulder. As his gaze moved down to the girl she offered him a hooded smile. "There is nothing to worry about. It is simple infiltration. I plan on it just being in and out. There shouldn't be any sort of resistance..." John sighed as he looked back towards the elevator. It was clear that something Jane had said had struck a chord but he wasn't going to stop them. He simply gave a small nod and looked over to Thane who was moving up on his other side. The drell offered him a small nod before looking towards the elevator as John had.

"I have been spending a few training sessions with your sister. She is one of the most skilled hand to hand fighters I have seen. I believe that she would surprise you with her skill. She is not to be taken lightly." Large dark eyes moved back to meet John's. There was a sigh from the human male as he gave a small shake of his head.

A heated flare lit up inside Garrus. Just when had Thane been spending time with Jane? Pausing for a moment he realized that he wasn't with her every moment of everyday. So there had been plenty of times. Perhaps there was really nothing to be worried about. As she had just said, she was a big girl. If she wanted to spar with the drell, she very well could. But perhaps there was some merit in venturing out of the main battery more often. As he thought about that, John's eyes moved towards Kasumi. He raised his hand to cover hers while giving her a nod. "Just promise me that you will watch her back."

The small thief gave a sly smile as she pulled away and moved towards the elevator. "And just for you Shep, I'll watch her front, too." There was a small wink before she disappeared into the elevator. John let out another sigh before turning towards Kasumi's room. "A drink... A drink is in order..."

As he moved away Garrus pushed away from the wall and gave Tali a small nod. "I'm going to go and talk to him. There are a few things I need to discuss anyway." He looked from John's retreating form to Tali who seemed to be nervous as she wrung her hands together. Her glowing orbs moved up towards John before shifting back to Garrus.

"Are you sure? I mean I would be more than glad to go and..." Her voice trailed off as she shook her head. "Nevermind. Maybe it is best if you go and speak to him. You both have a younger sister after all... That whole brother protective... thing.." She turned away before Garrus could say something and moved towards the elevator.

A small trill of confusion left his subharmonics as he watched the quarian practically run away from him. Garrus had noticed that Tali had been acting strange lately. It was clear that there was something on her mind but she seemed to have trouble getting it out. He sighed as he shook his head slightly. One troubled friend at a time. Turning towards the room the thief had added a bar to, he set out to talk to the distressed Commander.

As he entered the room he found John standing behind the small bar, looking over all the drinks that were possible for him to drink. He seemed to be in deep thought as he looked over the bottles. Coming up to stand behind him on the other side of the bar Garrus watched his friend for a moment before he spoke. "So... that was interesting..."

John let out a long sigh as he paused in his search. His hands stilled as he looked down on the bar, seeming to still be deep in thought. After a moment he spoke. "You have a younger sister, right Garrus? You know what it's like. Wanting to keep her safe and away from harm. Never letting her get hurt."

Garrus gave a sigh of his own as he moved to sit on the stool in front of the bar. He brought his hands up to rest under his chin as watched his friends back. "I'm a turian, John. My sister has known how to fight and defend herself since she was a young age. Sure, I still worry about her getting hurt but I know that there is nothing I can do about it. I haven't been home in years. And even if I did say I disapproved of one of her actions, if she really wanted to, she would just do it. She has a stubborn streak, kinda like Jane."

Another sigh escaped John as he turned to look at his friend. Leaning on the bar he clasped his hands together. "I've seen her hurt before. And not just physically." His eyes moved to his friend as gold met blue. Raising his hand he tapped his chest. "Has she told you? About the turian?" Garrus realized that John was indicating the turian dog tags that Jane wore. He gave a small nod of his head.

"She said he was important to her. I believe she called him a crush. He died in an attack by the Blood Pack." John gave a small huff as he looked away. "That is a very subtle way to put it." Looking back to his hands he moved to pull up his omni-tool. "He was closer to us than anyone. One of the first turians Jane and I ever met. His dad was brought on board our mother's ship to study human military." John gave a small laugh as he looked into the ship around him. "He very well may have been one of the minds behind the idea of the Normandy."

His omni-tool lit up as John brought up a picture. Turning he let Garrus see the image. "This is us when we were around 12. Well, Jane was about 10." Garrus leaned over so that he could see. On the holo were three figures, two human children and a turian child. The human pair had the red blonde hair, the boys hair in a shaggy cut while the girls hair was pulled up in the back. Her eyes were a silver blue that he knew all too well, just as the boy's honey gold. He found it funny to look at such a young version of his Commander and his younger sister. Between them, with his arms around their shoulders, was the young turian. His plates were a frosty white color while his markings were deep red which caused them to stand out against his face. The red markings framing his eyes seemed to draw attention to the green orbs. All in all he could be thought of as quite the beautiful child.

Garrus gave a small nod as he looked to John. "You all seem very comfortable with each other." John chuckled as he moved his omni-tool back towards himself so he could look through the images again. "You have no idea. We had a good friendship, Trydonis and I. But Jane... there was a deeper bond there." He smirked as he brought up another image to show Garrus. "Granted, they had two years to themselves before Jane started her Alliance training while I had already started."

Garrus looked to the omni-tool and was slightly taken aback by the feeling of the image. It was still a younger Jane, now around 16 or 17, but she looked more like she did now. Her hair was now the bright red she had recently dyed. He suddenly realized that the red of her hair matched the red markings of the turian behind her. Was that her way of taking on his markings?

The way they were posed in the picture spoke of an intimate level. It was shot from the waist up with the turian, Trydonis, standing behind Jane with his arms wrapped around, crossing her front to rest his hands on her sides. His head was down and nuzzled in the side of her neck. Her head was resting back on his shoulder while her eyes were shut. It was clear she was enjoying his touch as one hand rested on one of his hands while her other hand was up and holding the side of his face lightly. A wide smile played on her lips. Garrus couldn't help but feel a small twinge of jealousy as he looked at the pair. He quickly pushed down the feeling as he looked up to John.

"They really seem to be in love here." John smiled as he brought his arm back so he could look at the image. "They really were. Jane even told me a week before the attack that when he came to visit they had plans to..." A small blush rose on John's face as he raised a finger to scratch the side of his face, a nervous tick John seemed to have when embarrassed. "Well, they had plans to finalize their relationship and become mates."

Garrus was once more taken aback. He had simply thought them very close. But to be mated, sharing markings, they might as well have been official bondmates. He looked to John who was putting away his omni-tool. "You were okay with that? Letting your sister be mated to a turian?"

John chuckled as he shook his head. "Looking back now, I wish I had stopped her. Maybe then I could have saved her from all that pain. He wouldn't have come to visit her on the Citadel and he wouldn't have been on that ship. But I didn't. I was all for the idea. He was one of my closest friends. I couldn't think of a better guy for her. Someone I knew would look after her and keep her safe."

John sighed as he shook his head. Reaching out, Garrus placed a hand on his friends shoulder. "You were doing what you knew was good for your sister. You didn't know what was going to happen." John sighed once more as he looked to his friend.

"Garrus, you have no idea what it was like. To be standing there with her on the dock as a busted ship drifted into port. Waiting while the passengers filed out slowly, so many hurt. I could feel her heart break as they carried out his body on a gurney. It broke my heart to watch her collapse on his lifeless form demanding him to wake up. Yelling at him that there were so many promises left for them to fill." He shook his head as he looked away. "I never want her to live through that again. And every time she wants to go on a mission, all I can think of is her coming back to me in the same fashion."

Garrus sighed as he withdrew his hand and rose to move behind the bar. Looking through the bottles he spoke to John. "There is only so much you can do John. At some point you need to let her go a little. You forget she has already lived through that feeling, not only once, but twice. You died, remember. She had to relive that pain, the one you are trying to shield yourself from." Garrus sighed as he pulled a bottle down and handed it to John.

"Look, I'm not saying that you need to stop caring or that nothing will ever happen. I'm just saying she did have a point. She is a very capable woman who can take care of herself. She is strong and talented and a very skilled fighter. And I don't think that you really need to worry about someone breaking her heart. Because even though she is friendly with others and tends to flirt, I have not noticed her really opening up to anyone. I think she spends more time with me than anyone out of boredom." He mentally told himself to not tell John about his budding attraction. That was something that needed to be left out. Mostly due to the fact that he wholeheartedly believed that it was all one sided. Jane treated him just like any other male on the ship. It was simply an attraction that seemed to run in the family. John created the same feeling in many of the girls he knew. Liara, Ashley and Tali were all proving this point.

He gave a small chuckle and a turian smile as John gave a small nod. There was an underlining look in Johns gaze that was gone as soon as Garrus noticed it. Dismissing it as his imagination, Garrus grabbed a bottle of turian brandy and moved back to the stool.

"So now to switch topics to something less... worrisome." At Johns soft smile and nod Garrus began to explain about the discovery of Fist and his plan to track the man down. Jane had been right, John was on board with the idea. He understood that his friend needed to sort out this problem before his full attention would be on the mission at hand. They had finished talking about Garrus's personal mission and had moved the topic to days of old when EDI's voice called out to John.

"Commander, the drop ship is returning to the cargo hull. It appears that the mission was a success." John gave a small nod as he looked up towards the voice. "I'm on my way EDI." His eyes moved towards Garrus as he tilted his head towards the door, asking if Garrus wanted to join him. The turian gave a small nod as he set his drink down and moved after John towards the elevator.

As the doors of the ship opened John and Garrus both stood waiting, John a little more eager than Garrus. Kasumi was the first to exit followed by Jane. Garrus was slightly surprised by the fact that Jane wore neither the dress she had worn to the party nor her normal mission gear. Her torso and legs were covered by an armor suit that closely resembled John's, her arms still bare. It was a black suit with a red trim that did reflect the dress she had been wearing. Her hair was pulled up and away from her face, very much like the style she wore on normal missions.

John seemed just as taken aback by the change. Looking her over he pointed to the suit. "When did you get that?" Jane smiled as her head tilted towards Kasumi. The thief gave a small smile under her hood that didn't seem to reach her eyes as she clutched a small box to her chest. "Kasumi seemed to have 'acquired' it when she acquired the dress. I'm guessing that she didn't like the idea of me being exposed."

Kasumi raised her shoulders as John looked to her. "It was just the two of us... And since both of us tend to do the up and close style of fighting and there was no one to watch our backs, I felt we needed a little bit of an extra safeguard." John gave a smile to Kasumi that seemed to express his thanks. Garrus couldn't help but smile as well as Jane rolled her neck.

"It did the trick quite well... But I would love to get out of it now..." Her eyes moved to her brother's as she took a step towards him. "How you wear this every time I have no idea." John gave a small chuckle as he nodded. There was a silence that lingered for a moment as the siblings stared each other down. Garrus watched in amusement as they seemed to have an entire conversation of their own with just simple looks. In the end Jane smiled and gave a nod as John stepped towards her and placed a hand on her shoulder. It seemed that they had made up.

The silence was broken as Kasumi spoke up. "If you don't mind, I think I am going to retreat to my room for a while." A hint of sorrow crossed Jane's face as she gave a small nod to her. The men watched slightly confused as the girl made a small bow with her head before turning and moving towards the elevator. Once she was out of sight John turned to look at his sister with a raised brow. Jane gave a small smile.

"We retrieved a gray box or something like that... It is pretty much all the memories of her lover who died a while ago. She was conflicted on whether to destroy it or not. I told her if it was me, I would keep it. It seemed she took my advice." Garrus turned to watch Jane as her eyes stayed trained on the elevator. Having heard her story from John he now knew on a different level just what that meant to Jane. If she had a way to view all of her turian's memories he was sure she would have kept hold of them.

John moved away from her, seeming unsure of what to say, and looked up towards the hull. "Joker, set a course towards the Citadel. We have quite a bit of business there..." He looked back to Garrus giving him a nod before turning and making his way to the elevator himself, leaving Jane and Garrus alone.

Taking this moment Garrus moved over to stand in front of Jane. "Fist is on the Citadel. We are one step closer to getting Sidonis." Jane's eyes seemed to light up slightly as she looked to Garrus. She gave a small nod as she moved to make her way to the elevator as well. "Good. We should start looking as soon as we land."

As she took a step, she seemed to drop into a limp that favored her right leg. Garrus moved quickly to catch her as she let a curse slip. A small chuckle sounded from her as Garrus's subharmonics called a sound of worry. Her eyes moved to him as she braced a hand on his arm.

"Right towards the end of the mission my shields dropped too low and my leg was grazed. We only had one pack of medi-gel left so I didn't use it just in case we needed it for a more pressing matter. Didn't really bother me then but now... " She made a small chuckle again as she looked to her leg. After a second she glanced back up to him, raising a brow. "Don't tell John?"

He chuckled as he gave her a nod. "Of course not... I just got him to accept the fact that you were right about going on missions alone. Don't need him having a freak out again." He flashed her a small turian smile as he pushed his own worry down. Getting hurt on the battlefield was something that happened all the time. But that thought didn't stop other thoughts from entering his mind. Ones that seemed to center around him making sure that the next time she went out on a mission, he would be there as well. Just to make sure.

She chuckled slightly as she began to move towards the elevator once more, with a little help from Garrus. "Well, aren't you useful. Not only are you a crack shot but you can talk my brother down when he's in one of his fits." Garrus flashed her a large grin as they entered the lift. "Don't forget amazingly attractive and quick-witted."

Jane laughed as she pushed the button to take her to their floor. "Of course, of course. Who could forget that?" There seemed to be a mocking tone in her voice as she looked up to him. The rest of the ride up and to her room they discussed their plan on finding and getting information out of this Fist character.


	10. Chapter 10

Alright long note for you guys... First off two small sorrys. The first is for once again being late. Getting back into classes and not having a lot of free time. The second is for the mix up in past chapters. I have been replaying the first and have been putting Fist instead of Fade. I am sorry for this. Alright now to my main plea of forgiveness. It has been brought to my attention that my spelling is completely terrible. I have always known that I can not spell at all. And I also have the terrible habit of when I read over words, even if they are misspelled, if they are close to the spelling I know what it is and skip over it. I didn't realize just how back it was until I was asked if English isn't my native language. I am ashamed to say that I can not even claim that as an excuse. I know for many of you it ruins the flow of the story when you are reading and come across so much misspelling. The only thing I can say is that I am truly and deeply sorry. I will try so hard to proof read my stories many times and make sure they are not faulted. But I an only promise so much with my awful spelling. I truly hope that I do not lose my dear readers because of this.

Now on to lighter notes... If anyone has done fan art please link it in a comment that way I can share it with everyone ^.^ I'll even put it with the story on my DeviantArt account. And another thing WOW! One away from 90 stalkers! You make me feel so loved. You guys are making me all tingly. I wonder if we can get it up to 100 by the end of ME2.. I will thank the review next chapter(if I remember...) This note is already far to long... Alright now on to why we are here...

_Disclaimer: Only in my dreams do I own Garrus and all the wonder of Bio-ware... But in the real worlds I only stare at him longingly._

_He was dreaming. How else could he be on the Citadel. Not in a shop or on the Presidium. No, he was on top of one of the Citadel arms staring out into space around him. He stood with no helmet on in his everyday armor just watching the galaxy drift by. His dream self must have heard something because he turned to look down the arm to the figure standing there. She was dressed in the stupidly wonderful dress he had seen just a few days ago. Her hips swayed as she slowly made her way over to him. His eyes raked in every curve and every dip of her body. As his eyes landed on her lips he watched as they moved but no sound came out. He felt his dream self laugh at whatever it was that she had said, clearly whatever it was, it was quite funny. _

_Her hand moved up to run along his mandible before landing at the back of his head. There her fingers began to move in small circles which he discovered drove him mad. His own hands moved out to wrap around her waist and pulled her flush to him. He had to admit that even if it was a dream she seemed to fit against him so perfectly that it felt meant to be. His head dropped down so that he could nuzzle into her neck. A smell began to reach him, one that didn't belong in a dream but he welcomed it anyway. Her natural scent laced with gun oil, metal and that flower smell that seemed to come from her cleaning soaps. It was comforting and made him feel a level of peace he had not felt for quite some time._

_There was a soft click by his head as he turned away from her and looked down the barrel of the gun that was beside his head. His gaze moved down the barrel and to the person holding it. Sensat. He stood with a glare in his eye as he looked over Garrus. Slowly his gaze moved to the woman and his gun moved towards her direction. Garrus began to panic as he tried to explain that this was wrong but as before, no words seemed to come out of his mouth. Suddenly other members of his team began to appear around them. Three moved over to restrain him while the others moved around her. Garrus began to fight against the hands that held him as he reached out for her. A small smile graced her lips as she seemed to accept just what was happening to her. Behind her a figure appeared to wrap his arms around her shoulders and pull her flush to him. Sidonis gazed over towards Garrus with a smile as he reached behind him to pull a gun of his own out. Moving ever so slowly he placed the gun against her temple and pulled the trigger._

A hand on his shoulder caused his eyes to shoot open. With quick movement he reached out and grabbed the figure that loomed above him. With a twist he had the intruder pinned under him on his cot. A snarl was followed by a steady growl as his dream haze slowly began to fade. As reality began to set in, he realized that the smell still lingered in the room around him. The feeling of soft flesh was under his fingers as he began to shake the dream from his eyes.

There laying on his cot in a state of shock was Jane. Her hands were raised and placed on his chest as if to keep him at bay, but there was no force in her gesture. Her breath was hitched slightly as her eyes showed the panic she was feeling. Though he took note of the red that danced across her nose and cheek in a blush.

As quickly as he could he relaxed and pulled away from her, the growl dying out quickly. He now went into his own state of panic. He had pinned Jane to his bed as well as snarled at her. There was so much to apologize for he didn't even know where to begin. As he looked to her he raised a hand to run over the back of his neck as he thought of how to start. "Look, Jane I-"

But she cut him off as she sat up and shook her head. A smile was now on her lips as she seemed to be relieved. "It's ok Garrus. I should know better than to shake a sleeping turian awake." She laughed as she moved off of his bed to stand up. "Though I have to say that was more surprising than I could have imagined. I didn't know whether to be turned on or terrified..."

Garrus sat in a whole other state of shock as he watched her. He was aware of her flirting capability, that much was true. But now it was getting hard to tell a joke from serious flirting. Or maybe it was just his hope that she was starting to feel for him the way he was starting to feel for her. He gave a small shake of his head as if to clear it. He would save those thoughts for later. A smirk grew on his face as he looked over to her.

"So is there another reason for sneaking into my room at night, or do you simply like to see my reaction from crawling into my bed and waking me?" He watched as she seemed to regain her composure as he reminded her of her reason for being there. From the serious look on her face he could tell this was not a friendly, hang out calling. She gave a small tilt of her head towards the door as she moved towards it backwards so she continued to face him. "Joker woke me. We have docked at the Citadel. I felt you wanted to get out there as quick as I want to."

He nodded as he stood to move towards the door. He quickly sat back down as he realized that he was wearing nothing but his bed sheet. Of course nudity was nothing to a turian but there was an odd feeling to be standing naked in front of Jane in the main battery all alone. A feeling he was not quite familiar with.

He had recently started to sleep out of his armor, a habit that was hard to break but needed. On this ship they did not have beds that were turian friendly. His cowl on a human bed alone caused his neck to ache, adding armor to that was even worse. So he started to sleep without armor and quite a few pillows. But not being used to sleeping nude plus the added fact that she had caught him off guard had made him completely forget about it.

He let his eyes move to her as she seemed to be looking him over with a questionable gaze. After a second she caught on and waved her hand as she moved towards the door. "Darn, I hoped you wouldn't have noticed." Her hand rose to move a strand of deep red out of her face. "I guess I should wait outside while you get dressed." He heard her laugh before she disappeared behind the door. He shook his head as he rose to start getting dressed.

An hour later found them in the wards of the Citadel. Garrus used his investigation skills and found out just where they could meet up with this Fade guy. As they entered the room they were greeted by a volus and two krogan guards. Beside him Jane gave a small laugh looking over the suited alien. "You have got to be kidding me..."

Garrus couldn't help but agree. This was not what he was expecting when he thought of a person that could make others disappear. As the volus moved over to them he began to study them with raspy breaths. After a moment he gave a nod. "Which one of you are needed to disappear? Or is this a forbidden love runaway case?" He could feel Jane's eyes on him as he caught her smile out of the corner of his eyes. It seemed she was going to let him run this mission. He shifted slightly as he looked back to the volus.

"I would much rather you make someone reappear..." His statement clearly took the volus back. He seemed to become frantic as he shook his head. "That is not the services that I supply..." Garrus could feel his temper start to rise. They were getting so close. He wasn't going to let a small volus and two krogan stand in the way of his revenge. Pulling out his sidearm he trained it on the volus. "How about you make an exception, just this once."

The volus took a step back and began to shout at the krogan to fire at them. At his side Jane pulled out one of the pistols at her leg and pointed it at the nearest krogan. A smile was plastered on her face as she stared him down. After a second she spoke to him. "Do you really want to die for him?" She asked in a sweet tone but it was clear she was ready to take him down if need be. The krogan looked to his companion before they both turned and walked away. Garrus didn't even bother to hide his smile as he looked back to the volus. "Now Fade, lets get to business."

The volus took a step back and shook his head. "I'm not Fade. I just handle his matters." From his side Garrus heard Jane chuckle as she shook her head. "I knew it.." Garrus let his attention move back to the volus as he began to pace.

"You can find Harkin in the shipping district. He has a whole group of mercs with him. Mostly Blue Suns." Garrus holstered his gun as he looked down to the volus. "You better hope he is there. Because if he's not, I'm coming after you." With that the volus turned and walked away. Garrus turned back towards Jane who stood with her arms crossed, her weapon back in it's spot on her thigh, and a smile on her face.

"So, off to kill some Blue Suns it seems. They must have sent Sidonis to Fade after they made their deal. That's how he disappeared so quickly." Garrus nodded as he moved over to stand in front of her. He could feel his excitement growing. They were so close that he could almost taste his revenge. Looking to Jane he could tell that she was in the same place as he was, constantly shifting her weight showing her excitement.

"So this Fade is actually Harkin. What a small galaxy we live in..." Garrus looked to Jane to see she had a puzzled look on her face. "A friend of yours?" He laughed roughly as he shook his head. "Hardly. We worked in C-Sec together. I'm guessing he is using the inside loop he learned in C-Sec to make people vanish. Makes sense."

He gave her a nod which she returned. It was time to get down to business. But there was one thing that bothered him. They had agreed to contact John when they needed him. But there was a part of him that enjoyed it just being the two of them. And an even smaller voice was telling him that, while John agreed, there was a large chance he might try to keep him from killing Sidonis. And that was something that he just would not stand. As he walked out of the small area that they had been in, he chanced a glance back at Jane to voice his thoughts.

"I think this will be something that we can take care of ourselves. We are both very capable of taking out a few mercs. Don't really need to bother John with this sort of thing." He gave her a small smile as she offered a simple nod. Her steps quickened so that she came to walk by his side. "I agree. John never really gets a day off. No use pinging him for nothing." Her smile reassured him as he turned his attention back to the matter at hand.

It was a quiet and short flight to the shipping district where they found a group of Blue Suns being commanded by a human male in simple clothing. Right away Garrus identified him as Harkin and just as quickly Harkin send his group of mercs on them.

As they began their fight, Garrus stood beside Jane, firing from cover as they made their way towards the room Harkin had ran in to hide. But as they got closer they split up, Jane taking the left as Garrus took the right. It was when he was in the middle of reloading that he heard a small gasp over his com. Immediately a slight panic began to spread in him. Raising his hand he spoke over the com. "Jane, are you alright?" Had she been hit? Had something gone wrong on her side?

His reply was a chuckle before her light hearted voice came in over the com. "Yes, sorry about that. Just excited about a silly song. One of my favorites." There was a pause before she continued. "Did I give you a mini heart attack?"

He couldn't help but chuckle as he shook his head at her. "Not fully but still gave me a scare. The last thing I need is to go back to the Normandy with you hurt. I'm pretty sure John would ground us and not let us out of our rooms for quite a while." He chuckled once more before moving to take out two of the mercs that were pushing towards him. As he moved up to the next bit of cover he caught a flash of red from the others side of the room as Jane did the same.

"Oh, don't worry about that, I know how to handle John. And I'm pretty sure I would be in more trouble than you." He had to laugh at that as he steadied his rifle to take out a merc that was peeking over the edge of a crate up ahead. "You know Jane, I seriously doubt that..."

That was the end of their conversation as they pushed forward. As they neared the room after taking out the mercs that had appeared, he watched as Jane ducked into the room from the left side. Deciding to take the other side and come from the rear, Garrus moved into the room to see Harkin standing with his arms up, Jane in front of him with her gun aimed straight towards him.

Garrus moved up behind him and placed his pistol to the back of his head. "Hello Harkin. It has been a while." Harkin turned to look at Garrus with fear. Good. He wanted this man to be afraid of him. After a moment it seemed that Harkin found his voice.

"Vakarian. What do you want?" Garrus took a step forward causing Harkin to take a step back. Garrus noticed how Jane stood at Harkin's back still. She would make sure he could not run. It was good but he wasn't quite used to this sort of style. Usually John would come to his side and do most of the talking. But now it was all up to him. He liked the bit of power he held once more, back like it was on Omega. But this wouldn't end like Omega. He would make sure of that.

"I'm looking for someone, someone you helped to disappear. I need you to make him reappear." Harkin seemed to pale as he shook his head. His hands were still in the air as if to show his submission but his words said otherwise. "I can't do that Garrus. It's bad for business." Garrus gave an angry snarl as he leaned forward so that he was right in Harkin's face.

"You know what else is bad for business? Being dead." To prove just how far he was willing to go he brought his gun down, so that he could fire a shot straight into Harkin's knee. As the guy dropped with a yell, Garrus let his eyes move to Jane to judge her reaction. The girl simply stood, staring down at the man with narrowed eyes. It was clear that she was in the same standing as him. How many evil men had Harkin hid away so that they were not held accounted for their crimes? How many innocent people were hurt because this man helped those who did not deserve it? A smile grew on his face before he let his attention move back towards Harkin. The man sat pleading on the ground.

"Alright alright... Who is it you are looking for?" Garrus moved so that he was now looking the man in the eyes, squatting down to do so. "His name is Lantar Sidonis. From Omega." Harkin gave a nod that he knew exactly who Garrus was looking for. Slowly the man rose on his good leg and hobbled over towards the terminal that was nearby. Garrus rose and turned to watch him as he seemed to have a one sided conversation with who he assumed was Sidonis on the other side. He stated that he was compromised and needed to send him to an agent. It was an almost perfect set up.

As Garrus watched him, his eagerness began to show as he himself began to shift as Jane had earlier. They were so close. But he had to deal with Harkin in the meantime. He was scum and the galaxy would be a better place without him. Slowly he raised his gun to aim at the back of the man's head. As soon as he finished the call he planned to take him out. But a small hand on top of his caused him to let his gaze move down towards Jane who gave him a small shake of her head. His subharmonic began to chime in confusion. He had thought she was with him in this. Why was she stopping him now? She moved so that she could lean in to whisper in his ear so that Harkin could not hear.

"It's true that he is worthless trash but he still cooperated. And when word gets out that a simple shot to the leg can get him to give up his clients he will lose all business. And with that he will be harmless and useless. Plus, we are about to get our own revenge, others might get the same idea if they find out they can hunt down those that he has hid." His eyes glanced back to Harkin as he thought over her point. She was right in a sense. Looking back to her he gave a small tilt of his head. "But how do we know word will get out? Everyone here that might have said something is dead.." Her eyes lit up as she looked from Harkin and back to him. There was a hint of glee in her eyes as a twisted smile spread across her lips. "Oh trust me... There are quite a few people on Omega that are sure to hear about this. There is a certain doctor that had many cases of families who were grieved and the one who grieved them seemed to vanish."

He could not help the smile that appeared on his face. He made a mental note not to get on Jane's bad side. She seemed to have ties all over the galaxy and knew just how to pull the strings to make someones life miserable. But he still couldn't have Harkin run off to warn Sidonis. So as he told them the meeting spot Garrus moved up to give the man a solid head butt to knock him out. With that they moved on their way to get their revenge.

When they arrived at the designated meeting spot Garrus took a look at his surroundings. His trained eye caught the perfect ledge to set up on. He would have a great view of the entire area and would be able to take out Sidonis. Looking to Jane he gave her a small nod. "I'll set up, up there." He pointed over his shoulder to the point that he indicated. "It's no use trying to act as his contact, he already knows your face. But I'm sure if he sees you he may come straight to you. If not then you can always herd him my way..."

Jane gave him a nod in return as she turned to look at the crowd of people. It was clear that she was nervous as well as excited. She shifted her weight as she had before but her eyes kept shifting as well, trying to catch a glance of Sidonis. Garrus felt an urge to reassure her. Reaching out he placed a hand on her shoulder. Her eyes quickly moved to him and a timid smile came to her lips. "It's almost over Jane. We are just a few minutes from paying him back for all our grief..."

She nodded once more and was still fidgeting but there was a bit more lax to her body. Pulling away from her, he began to move towards the catwalk. Once he was fully set up he raised a hand to speak to her over the com. "Alright Jane. I'm in position. Call him over and keep him talking. When he is lined up, I'll let you know." In an afterthought he looked through his scope to see her face looking up towards him. "Make sure you keep your com on. I want to hear what that bastard has to say..."

He saw her lips curved in a smile as she spoke. Her lips moved but he heard the voice through the com in his ear. "Sure thing, Garrus.." He watched as she turned and began to move to the middle of the room. He could still see her perfectly as the people moved around her. After a moment her hand rose and her fingers moved in a little wave. Her head was turned away from him so he could not see her expression as a turian quickly made his way towards her. As he reached her his arms opened wide and he captured her in a large hug. Over his com he heard their conversation.

"Spirits, Jane. I prayed I would see you again but I never thought that I ever would." A flare of fire that had nothing to do with his revenge rose in Garrus's gut as he watched the embrace. There was something about another male touching her so friendly like that that struck a sour chord in him. Pushing those thoughts from his mind he turned his attention back to the events at hand.

As Sidonis pulled away from her, he let a hand linger on her arm. The way they were standing, Jane's head blocked Garrus from Sidonis. He was about to say something to Jane when her voice came over the com. It was full of anger and hate, even he could hear that. Maybe it was a bad idea to send her to meet him. She had quite a bit of rage built up just as Garrus did, but she was face to face with the one who caused her pain. She had a chance to call him out on that pain and it seemed she was going to take it.

"What's the matter Sid? Surprised to see that I actually made it out of their alive? Thought that the Blue Suns would have taken care of me after you left?" He caught a small glimpse of Sidonis's face from around the side of Jane's head. But it was too close, he couldn't take the shot just yet. Sidonis seemed completely in shock as he stared at the human girl.

"Ja-Na, what are you talking about?" There was no stutter, there was no hint of lying. He seemed to be truly unsure of what she was talking about. But it appeared that Jane didn't hear it that way. She began to lay right into him. "You bastard! You handed me over to the Blue Suns. Right after you gave them your whole team. You called Garrus away so they could take out the whole group. Handed me over. Then you skipped town and disappeared under the care of Fade. You are more of a coward than I ever would have thought!"

A flash of fear crossed Sidonis's face through the scope as his eyes began to move around. "You know Garrus, Jane?" He heard Jane give a small laugh as she shifted her weight. "Of course I do. He is the one who busted me out of the Blue Suns cell. He is the turian that traveled with my brother. In fact, I'm here with him now..." That was a kick she should not have done. Now Sidonis was aware of the fact that he was targeted. But the turian seemed to not give a damn about it as he moved closed to grab hold of Jane's elbows of her crossed arms. He moved in close as he spoke to her almost too quietly for him to hear, almost.

"Jane you have it all wrong... I didn't hand you over... They grabbed me after one of our meetings. They started to lay into me and threaten my life to give up the team. I wasn't going to do it. I would rather die then hand over everyone. But then they found you. They brought you in to make me talk." There was a pause as Sidonis seemed to have trouble saying the next part. Garrus watched as the turians hand moved up to cup her cheek. That small fire of rage was back in Garrus's gut. It was joined by another feeling of anger. This was going nowhere near what he had planed. This was all going to hell real quickly.

"Jane, they brought in a screen. Had me watch the feed. Watch as they tortured you. Watched as they stripped you down and abused you in that damn room. I couldn't watch it. I had to cave, to save you. I gave them the base and the team..." Jane pulled away from him and turned to face Garrus. Her eyes seemed to be trying to find the right emotion for the moment. There was a war behind her eyes as she looked up towards him for help. Garrus had a clean shot of Sidonis but now he was unsure if he really wanted to take the shot. He steadied himself as he looked towards Sidonis once more. The other turian moved to place a hand on Jane's shoulder.

"It's been killing me since I left. Because of me the whole team is gone. The only thing that kept me going was that they swore to me that once I was off Omega they would let you go. Well, that and the knowledge that I got Garrus out of the slaughter. And from what you said he got off Omega as well." Jane turned once more so that her back was to Garrus as this load of information hit him. Sidonis had called him away on his own accord? He had always thought that it was so the Blue Suns could take the base. He always thought that if he had been there then they would have lived. Did Sidonis not trust in his leading skills? Once more Jane seemed to be on the same foot as him.

"What do you mean? You left your team without their leader. They were slaughtered because he wasn't there. Why would you do that?" Sidonis's head shook as he seemed to fight back, defending himself. "Jane, they had so many mercs, so many. He wasn't there to see. He would have been taken out like the rest. And they had you. They knew that if they let it be known that they had Shepard's sister as a hostage, then Archangel would come and try to save her. The sister of the great hero of the Citadel in merc's hands, Archangel would never stand for that." He shook his head as he looked up. It seemed he caught sight of the reflection from the scope as his eyes landed right on Garrus. When he spoke next he addressed him rather than Jane.

"Knowing her now, if you were in my position, would you have done it differently? Would you have let her die?" Garrus fought back a growl as he thought it over. Ten lives versus one. But that one was Jane. Memories flashed through his mind of his team. Them joking and fighting together all over Omega. Then other memories began to trump those memories. Images of Jane. When she first met him in the Blue Suns base. When she fought together with her brother. Even just images of her laughing and joking with him and the crew. He gave a defeated sigh as he lowered his rifle. Sidonis was right. He would have done the exact same thing.

Raising his hand he spoke to Jane. "Let him go... There is no revenge to gain..." Pushing away from the catwalk he rose to his feet and shut off the com. Looking down towards them he watched as they spoke to each other. Sidonis moved to embrace Jane but she blocked him and shook her head. After a few exchanges of words she gave him a slight push and moved away from him quickly. Garrus watched as Sidonis seemed to be lost as to what to do. In the end he turned and walked away in the opposite direction.

Descending the catwalk he found Jane pacing in a small wing off to the side of the main street. She seemed to be mumbling to herself. As Garrus drew near to her he stopped just inside of the area. She paused and looked up to him with a flash of anger.

"It's my fault. I'm the one that got your team killed!" Her feet began to move again as she paced back and forth all the while continuing to talk. "I'm the one that is all to blame. He gave up ten lives," her eyes moved up to his for a moment before darting away, "almost eleven lives all for me. If I could have stopped them from grabbing me or never had even met Sidonis your whole team would be alive and well."

She moved towards him quickly and before he could stop her she brought the barrel of his rifle up to rest on her chest. She stood for a moment with a look in her eyes that seemed to cry despair. "This is your revenge... I would not hold it against you. You deserve to have some form of closing. And I am it. I am to blame for it all!" He could see her mentally crumbling. She was falling apart. There was a clatter as his rifle fell to the ground. Reaching out he took hold of her shoulders and brought her flush to his body. His arms moved around her to bring her even closer. He dropped his head to move very close to her neck. Taking in her smell he gave a soft sigh.

"Jane, I can't blame you. Never would I blame you. And he was right. If I were in his place I would have given anything to have you safe. Even the lives of my men. You are worth those lives..." He felt her body shake and the salty smell that reached him told him that she was crying. Even through the tears he could hear the words that escaped between gasping breaths.

"Why... why would... my life... be worth... all... of theirs..." He had to chuckle slightly as he pulled back. Raising her face he raised a thumb to wipe away the tears that trailed down her face. Spirits damn him, he really was starting to be attracted to this human. Even with puffy red eyes. "Jane, you come into peoples lives like your brother. Without even being aware people grow so attached to you and care about you. You are an amazing person and are not to be forgotten easily. You have a way of touching people in ways that they wouldn't expect. And it's in a good way. And people want to do anything for you. Kinda like your brother. He risks his life to save so many but any one of us would sacrifice the whole mission just to keep him safe. It's a power that you two seem to share."

He chuckled again as he brought her back in a hug. It was such a comfortable feeling of having her so close. This was not good. He was sure of it now. He was falling for her, and hard. "I can't hate you for being the wonderful person that you are..." He felt her pull back as she looked up towards him. Her crying had seemed to subside for the moment which was a relief. She moved a hand to wipe away her tears with the back of her hand.

"You think that I am wonderful?" He chuckled as he pulled away from her, sure now that she was over her emotional roller-coaster moment. He couldn't blame her, she had just been through an emotional shit storm. Moving to her side he placed a hand on the small of her back to lead her out of the small wing.

"Of course I do. Maybe not as wonderful as I am but you are so close, it is almost scary." He chuckled as she did as well. There was so much he wanted to say to her, tell her just how wonderful he thought she was. But he kept his mouth shut. He was not about to add to her drama. It was clear she had had her fill for the day.

"Come on... I'll buy you a drink. You and I both need one." He looked down to her with a smile that she eagerly returned. Turning away from the wing they began to make their way towards the wards where they would be able to get a drink or two. As they began to walk Garrus could not help but notice that Jane did not pull away from his hand on her back. In fact, she even seemed to be leaning into it, even in the slightest of ways.


	11. Chapter 11

Here you go my darlings. A wonderful little Valintines gift for you. The last chapter was the idea that created the story and this is the chapter that you are all waiting for I'm sure. So enjoy.

_Disclaimer: I own nothing but the love from all my lovely readers._

Something was very very wrong on the Normandy, Garrus could feel it in his core. All over the ship the crew was branching off into couples, mostly a man and woman, and would giggle about something or seem to be in a romantic haze. That combined with the fact that the Normandy had been docked at the Citadel for over a week. It was very unlike John to stay in port for so long.

At first Garrus assumed that he had business here. Sure they had had their ordeal with Sidonis. Then after that John had run off to help Thane with a problem that had to do with his son. But after that it seemed all John was doing was going shopping and granting shore leave. People seemed to almost be on a vacation as they came and went off the ship. Some were even putting up ribbons and odd decorations, mostly in deep red color. It was getting to a point where Garrus felt very much out of the loop. In want for answers he went on a search for Jane.

As he moved towards her door, he passed the crew quarters where two Cerberus crewmembers were whispering to each other lost in their own little world. He fought the urge to roll his eyes at the overly romantic pair. Reaching Jane's door he took note that it was unlocked. Stepping up as it whooshed open, Garrus moved in to scan the empty room. Stepping back out he looked over to the pair that was now giggling.

"Have either of you seen Jane?" The woman looked up and shook her head as the male spoke, trying not to shift his attention from the girl to Garrus. "I saw her take the elevator about half an hour ago." And with that it was as if he was shut out of their love filled world. Realising he wasn't going to get much else from them, Garrus moved towards the elevator. If there was one person on this ship that knew where Jane was, as well as what was going on, it would be John.

As he neared the captain's door Garrus paused before he buzzed to ask for entry. When the door opened it was not quite what he was expecting. John stood there dressed in a fancy manner. He even seemed to have tamed his hair down. An assault of different scents hit Garrus, the smell of cologne coming from John, food from the table in the middle of the room, and even a sweet smell of wine that was dextro and levo friendly. The lighting in the room was definitely termed as mood lighting. Garrus could not help the trill of amusement as he watched a startled John recover.

"I mean I knew we are close man, but I don't quite think you are my type." Garrus chuckled and was soon joined by John who was slowly shaking his head. After their chuckles died, John tilted his head towards Garrus signalling him to follow as he moved back into the room. When Garrus moved down the short stairs he took note of the lovely dinner set up on the table. It was clear that John was waiting on someone, someone he had plans for wining and dining. Looking back to his friend, he watched as John seemed to fidget under his friends gaze.

"You were not who I was expecting, clearly... I asked Tali to join me..." Garrus's mandibles spread wide in a grin as he moved over to clap his friends on his back. John let out a small laugh as he looked up to Garrus. It had been apparent that the little quarian had been falling for their commander and friend but it was good to see first hand that John was taking the next step. Garrus gave a small sigh as he look over the layout once more.

"I'm glad that you two are moving along. Even if it's with the help of whatever has taken over the ship." He chanced a glance to John who was giving him a puzzled look. Garrus raised a hand to indicate everything. "You know all the giggles and loving that seems to be going on. It's like every human on this ship has been overtaken with some weird love disease."

John began to laugh as he shook his head. "You mean Valentines. I must say it could very well seem like that. But believe me, back on Earth this would be completely normal." Garrus must have looked confused because John continued explaining. "It's a holiday on Earth called Valentine's Day. Like most holidays the true meaning has been lost. Nowadays it is a day to confess love, go on dates, have crazy one night stands. Its a day completely dedicated to love and romance."

Now, finally, everything made complete sense. This was the reason for everyone's strange behavior and the odd atmosphere around the ship. Looking to John he gave a small tilt of his head. "Is this why we have been docked at the Citadel for so long? To let everyone have their little dates?" On one hand Garrus could understand giving the crew a small break but at the same time it felt very foolish to put their dire mission on hold for something so silly. John gave a small roll of his shoulders.

"Well, that was just one of the reasons. We did have a few missions. Plus I had to pick up a few things for the ship." John paused as he seemed to think about what he was going to say next. After a minute he looked up to Garrus for a second before looking away. "And I wanted to stay a little while for Jane."

That sparked Garrus's attention. After the incident with Sidonis, Garrus would be lying if he said she seemed fine. Over the past few days he had seen less and less of her. It wasn't as if she was avoiding him. Just that she was avoiding interaction with everyone all together. He had thought that it was just her coming to grips with what she had learned. Had John seen it too and given her some extra time? His head hung as he raised a hand to rub the side of his neck in a motion that showed his uncertainty.

"Yeah, I guess she does need some time... But I'm sure she should be fine in a few days..." His gaze moved to his friend who seemed to be lost for words. John looked at him as if he had said something very odd. After a few seconds John gave a tilt of his head.

"She told you about it?" Now it was Garrus's turn to give John an odd look. What was he talking about? He had been there. He had seen the whole event. If anything John would be the one to have heard from _her_ about the events with Sidonis. Moving forward he raised a hand as if to stop the conversation. "What are you talking about?"

John raised a shoulder before turning to look at his fish tank, as if he didn't want to look at his friend when he spoke. "Today is the anniversary of Trydonis's death. They were planning on meeting on Valentine's Day to celebrate their relationship by bonding together." He paused to look back to Garrus. Realizing that the turrian was in a slight shock, he shrunk back. "That's not what you were talking about, was it?"

Garrus shook his head as he turned to sit on the couch. That made more sense than what he had been thinking. Why she seemed to be withdrawing from everyone. Why, when he did see her, she seemed sad and contemplative. His hands rose to clasp in front of his face. Slowly his icy blue orbs turned to his friend. "Where is she now?"

John gave a small wave of his hand towards the door. "No idea really. They had a few places on the Citadel that she likes to visit in memory. She could be at any of them." Garrus gave a small nod as he rose to his feet. He smiled at John as he went to move towards the door. "I think I should leave you to your date."

As he reached the stairs John reached out and grabbed his arm in a loose grip. "She is not one to shoulder away company but at the same time she may want to be alone." Garrus gave a nod before offering John another smile, this one wider and more true.

"I don't really plan on going to look for her. Just with the whole crew in a giggle fit and you on a date I would really like to get off the ship and think for a while." His words were true. It was completely uncalled for but a small twist of jealousy filled him as he heard where Jane might be. He was slowly going to have to come to grips that he was falling for her. His human commanders younger sister. And if that didn't deserve a drink he didn't know what did. Giving John's shoulder a simple pat he continued his way up the stairs and to the elevator.

As he exited the ship, Garrus felt that he was able to breath a little easier. There was something about being out in the open air of the Citadel that felt the closest thing to home after the Normandy. Which was sad, now that he thought of it. Going back to Palaven now would almost feel odd, almost foreign. Giving a shake of his head he began to walk, just letting his feet take him wherever they wanted.

Making his way down the docks his eyes traveled over the people that had gathered there. Most were humans seeming to be waiting on people to arrive. He also took note of the human couples who were holding hands or talking together closely. It seemed that this human based holiday had even spilled over here on the Citadel. There even seemed to be a few cross species relationships that were taking part of the holiday. Over by one of the benches, an asari and her human lover seemed to be exchanging gifts. Despite the fact he felt overloaded with the lovey dovey all over the place, he had to admire their relationship.

About halfway down the dock he noticed a small crowd over by an empty port. The port looked to be an old one that was hardly ever used but there was still a small gathering. As he came closer he noticed that quite a few of the onlookers were children sitting on the ground. What took him by the greatest surprise was that in the middle of the crowd, sitting in a chair, was Jane. His eyes quickly took in her state of dress. While the dress she had worn for her outing with Kasumi had been daring and sleek, this dress was soft and could almost be thought of as sweet. The front of the dress was being held up by a strip of fabric around her neck, completely covering her front from view. But where her front was covered, her shoulders and what he could see of her back was completely bare. The lower half of the dress was loose and ended at her crossed knees. It was a soft blue in color that caused her red curls to truly stand out. In her hands was a small open book that she seemed to be reading from.

As he drew near, he could hear her voice as she seemed to be near the end of the story, based on how far in the book she was and the crowd that seemed to be hanging on her every word, mostly the children. "... Beauty clutched the beast's fur in trembling hands as she felt the life leave his form. Tears began to stream down her face as a sense of defeat filled her. Slowly her head dropped down to the lifeless form in her arms. As she cried in the rain, four small words slipped out and into the air. 'But I love you.' As she spoke these words the form below her began to grow warm once more. Before Beauty knew what was happening, the beast's limp body began to rise into the air." As she spoke Jane's eyes darted up to look at the eager children around her. Garrus took note of a small salarian child as well as a few asari and even one turian. They all seemed to be quite excited about where the story was going. A few of the human adults around Jane were giving her a knowing smile. It was clear that they had heard the story before and were simply enjoying hearing the tale once more.

For a moment her beautiful gaze moved up to lock with his eyes. A smile twisted on her lips before she looked back down to the children to continue the story. "As his form began to rise into the air, lights began to shine over his body twisting it into a new form. Claws turned into hands, beast-like padded paws turned into soft fleshy feet. His furry neck and horned head quickly became slimmed and less hairy as the beast slowly became a man one more. Slowly the body began to descend once more to the ground. Beauty, now quite startled and afraid sat back, unsure of just what had happened. Slowly the man began to rise to stand up fully. He took a minute to take a look over his form before he turned to look to the Beauty. Stepping forward he held out a hand to her as if to beckon to her. Beauty, still quite unsure, searched the man's unfamiliar features. Then her eyes meet his, those all too familiar eyes that she had come to love. It was then that she realised that the curse had been lifted. Moving forward she embraced the man who was once a beast. And they lived happily ever after."

Jane offered a smile to the children as she shut the book. Quickly the children began to clap and whisper to each other about the story. As she finished Jane stood and gave a few nods to the parents as they began to usher their children away. As the last of the viewers moved away, Garrus stepped up to stand beside her as she turned to lean on the railing of the port. Her eyes moved up to him with a shy smile before looking away once more.

"It's something that I used to do. Read Trydonis his favorite story. Well his favorite Earth story." She held the book out to him as he looked it over. It was a worn book that looked to have seen quite a few tellings. He gave her a nod as he moved to lean beside her. "It sounded quite interesting, from what I heard." Jane gave a small laugh as she returned his nod.

"It was one my father use to read to me when I would get to see him. Then I read it to Trydonis when he first moved to my mother's ship." She moved the book in her hand as she studied it with a sense of longing and sorrow. "It is about a girl who outwardly is beautiful but people find her odd. She is only desired for her outward appearance. She meets a man under a curse that twisted his form into a beast. Despite that they fall in love and break the curse." She gave a small chuckle as she looked up to him. "I always thought that he was my beauty while he thought I was his. And our own races believed the other to be the beast. It was kinda like our own private story." She smiled as she looked up to him once more. He felt at a loss as to what to say to her. It seemed that she was doing far better than she had been the last few days on the ship. Maybe she just needed to be here, needed to have a sense of her lover past to bring her back to a normal state. And maybe seeing the joy on those children's faces helped her feel better. With a small smile he looked her over once more.

"I have to say that I would find you to be more the beauty in your relationship. While he did hold traits our race finds attractive he still was not as appealing..." He smiled once more as he realized just what he had let slip. When he had started his sentence he was going for being teasing as he always was. But somehow it changed in the middle and he only stated the truth. Unable to take the words back he simply let his gaze move out to watch as ships flew past to their docks.

Her gaze was on him, he knew that it was. But the damage was done and anything he might say now would most likely dig a deeper hole for him. After a minute he let his gaze move back to hers. Whatever he had expected to show on her face, thoughtful was not one of them. Slowly she turned to face him fully. "Garrus, would you mind indulging me for a moment?"

To say he wasn't taken back by her request would be a lie. Turning to face her he gave a small nod. "Of course... Indulge away..." Her step brought her close to him, so close that her sweet scent drifted to him nose. It was things like that that made his mind twist around just how much a fool he was for falling for this woman. He wasn't really sure where it began but if it went any further he could find himself in deep trouble. Especially if she did not feel the same way.

What had John said about this holiday? That is was for lovers. Well, maybe today was as good of any day to let her know just how he felt. He knew that it was a long shot but he knew it needed to be put out there just so she was aware that simple things she did, could drive him completely insane. Maybe after this little indulging he could take her for a drink. Yeah, that was a good idea. Get her a little tipsy and then tell her. Spirits, what a cowardly way to go. Shaking the thoughts from his mind he let his gaze move down to the woman who seemed to be studying him.

Ever so slowly she began to move forward. In his mind it was happening so quick that he couldn't stop it but at the same time so incredibly slow that he could see every feature in her face, feel as her fingers moved to lightly brush his arm before taking a soft grip to steady herself. Then before he knew exactly what was going on, her soft, sweet lips were on his face plates.

Shock echoed through him to his core. Here she was, the sole consumer of his thoughts for so long now and she was kissing him. He had seen humans and asari do it before, and he had once been kissed by an asari on Omega but neither could compare to actually being kissed by Jane. At first he was at a loss as to what he needed to do exactly. But as the feeling of her began to consume him, he acted on impulse. His hands moved from his side to trace up her back, one finding a nice resting spot in her lower back while the other continued its way up her back, feeling the soft flesh under his finger, to finally rest at the nape of her neck.

She slowly began to pull away as if afraid of his reaction, so throwing all caution to the wind Garrus pulled her lips back to his plates. Her body went stiff for a second then melted into his as she took a firmer hold on his arm bringing her closer. Her other hand moved over his shoulder, her book still in her fingers.

Surprise overtook him once more as her moist tongue worked its way past her lips to caress the edge of his plates. He couldn't help himself as a soft moan escaped, granting her entry to his mouth. Her wet little appendage danced around his mouth and the only thing he could think of was returning the favor. Together they fought for dominance over each others mouth. After what was an eternity but still not enough time, they pulled apart.

Jane let out a small chuckle as she moved back slowly but kept their closeness. "If I had known that that's how you would respond, I might have jumped you quite a while ago." They shared another chuckle. Turning away from him she moved to place the book in the chair beside the railing. It was then that he noticed the small plate that was dedicated to the ones lost in this port. It must have been the only dedication to Trydonis and those like him. A subharmonic chirp of worry slipped out as he watched her.

"Don't you need that?" He asked. She smiled as she moved back to him. A small shake of her head was given as she moved her hand down that had lingered on his arm so that she could take his hand. "I don't think so... I'll leave it for him. I think that it's time that I really begin to move forward..." She flashed him another warm smile that he couldn't help but mirror. All those silly thoughts he had been having were dashed from his mind. For now, everything was perfect. Turning after her, he followed as she led him down the dock, their hands comfortably locked together.


	12. Chapter 12

My sweet darlings I have missed you so! I feel though that I apologize at the beginning of every chapter for delays. This one will be no different it seems. But summer is close at hand and in that time I will hopefully be more inclined to write. On a side note, for those who read my other story, Close You Eyes, I do plan on picking it back up. I believe that I have been trying to force to much writing for this story. Maybe if I switch back and forth like I did at the beginning of my stories I will be more eager to write. So expect that hopefully soon.

Just a heads up this story is quite the juicy M rating smutty fashion that most tend to enjoy reading. So if you are slightly uncomfortable with that you might want to skip this chapter... For those who missed it in my update of the last chapter I have had a few pieces of fan art come my way of Jane. Here is the link if you are interested: gallery/42092878 . I'm always on the look out for more art. ((Especially of Trydonis and Jane from their picture John showed Garrus. Much desire for that. hint hint))

So on with the show! Do enjoy!

_Disclaimer: I own nothing except for wicked Garrus fantasies..._

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There were few things that Garrus liked to pride himself in, but his steady hand was one of them. On a good day with the right rifle he could take a pyjak's head clean off from unmanageable distances. It was also that same talent that could calibrate his rifle with fine precision. None of that seemed to matter with the task at hand.

Taking a deep breath in, he held it as he slowly brought his hand down to linger over the smooth surface. Then, with a steady hand he ever so tediously brought the brush towards him leaving a trail of vile smelling liquid across the surface. Once he felt satisfied he looked up to the girl who sat beside him with her feet in his lap.

"How is that?" Jane lifted her eyes from her own hand to peer down at his work. That grin, that he was growing to love oh so much, broke across her face as she leaned forward. "Very nice. You only have nine more to go... " She chuckled as she moved back to applying another shade of the odd paint to her nails on her hand. With a defeated sigh, Garrus moved back to proceed to the next toe nail. Her eyes moved to him once more as she paused in her painting.

"You know, when you said you wanted to help I didn't expect you to make such a task of it." She leaned forward to take the brush from his hand and with practiced skill quickly pulled it across the next nail, covering it completely without getting any on the skin around her nail. He had to scuff slightly at the ease at which she painted the nail.

Shifting, so that he was now leaning over the nail more, he continued with the task. It had been three days since their kiss on the Citadel. Since then, they acted like teenagers just discovering the joys of being in a relationship. They had spent many moments simply enjoying each others company watching vids or, on one occasion, sitting together as Jane read from one of her books.

Jane seemed to understand his unsurety with this new kind of relationship. She was not pushy or overly dominate, not trying to force herself on him. And he had to admit, he was quite enjoying it, each day learning a little more about this soft being that was so different in so many new and exciting ways. Just a few hours ago he learned of a small spot on her side where, if he touched her just right, he could send her into a fit of uncontrollable giggles. Although his libido was telling him to push forward and take her, he was greatly enjoying this slow pace courting they seemed to be doing.

Tilting his head, he could see her out of the corner of his eye as she seemed to be studying her nails. This particular task arrangement came about, when he had joined her after finishing his tasks in the battery. He had come in to see her sitting just as she was now, painting her odd hand. And foolishly, he had offered his assistance. Now he was in charge of 'painting her toes' as she deemed it. Sighing once more he looked back to the nails. "What exactly is all this paint for?"

Jane chuckled as she looked up to him, screwing the lid of the paint back on. "Complete vanity..." He could feel his jaw drop slightly. All of this had no purpose whatsoever. Sighing, he placed the paint to the side as he turned to face her. "So it's only decorative?"

She flashed him a large smile as she moved so that her hands were in the air. He had learned that she was not to touch anything for a few minutes after painting so that it could dry. A mischievous idea popped into his head as he slowly became aware of just where their bodies were touching. The fact that her bare legs were resting in his lap. It was one of those times he really did enjoy those shorts she wore all the time. His hand moved to rest on her ankle. Slowly he began to slide up her soft and somewhat squishy skin. It amazed him how this body seemed so soft and delicate but underneath he could feel the muscles that held so much power.

Leaning towards her, he drew his face up to be right next to her so that he could speak softly in her ear. "So all my effort was to just make you feel fancy?" All he got from her was a small hum of agreement as her eyes glazed over with a hint of desire. Beneath him he could hear her heart start to increase in pace as his hand was now brushing past her knee and up her thigh. Turning his face he began to nuzzle her neck, giving it small nips here and there, his own little form of a kiss.

Her soft moan showed her desire just as the smell of her arousal told him she was quite enjoying what he was doing. As her hands began to move to embrace him he caught her wrist. A soft growl echoed from his chest as he pulled back enough to look her in the eyes. "Oh no you don't... After all that hard work I'm not going to let you ruin your vanity.."

His mandibles twisted in a smirk at the look of shock that hit her face. Now she understood. He was going to do as he pleased and she could do nothing back, at least not with her hands. Leaning back in to her neck, he gently used his weight to push her down to lay back on the couch. One hand braced him so that he was not putting his full weight on her while his other hand inched further and further up her leg, his tongue now darting out to taste the skin of her neck.

Her sweet moans only fueled his fire, as his hand began to creep further and further up her leg. Lucky for him, maybe even for her, her shorts that she was lounging in were just short enough, just loose enough that his hand was free to move up right to her core. A hitch in her breath caused him to pause for a moment. Was he ready to take this step? All signs pointed to yes for him. Granted, he had to admit he had been doing some studying on the extranet. And that one asari had turned out to be a good teacher, and he thought he had some skill in this area now.

So why the hell not? Spirits be damned, he would have been lying if he said he didn't want to go any further. He had already accepted and enjoyed so much this human could offer him, why not go the next step? He had even blunted his nails to prevent any unwanted injuries.

Pulling back enough to see the hunger, the longing in her eyes was enough of a go from her that he needed. Leaning down, he claimed her lips with his lip plates while his tongue claimed her mouth. At the same instant he slid one finger into her warm core.

And spirits help him. She was warm and.. well he would say squishy but it didn't seem to do the feeling justice. It was heaven.

That was all he say to describe it. Nothing like a turian woman. Not even an asari could beat this feeling. Pulling back from the kiss he watched as Jane's eyes seemed to roll to the back of her head as her body arched into the motion of his finger. Soft moans left her slightly plump lips.

There was something about this. Something about the way he knew the woman below him held so much power with her body and mind, but she seemed to be melting into him, the way a simple twist of his hand or stroke of his finger seemed to make her come undone. And knowing that _he_was the cause of it all, gave him a feeling of power. He loved it. He desired it. It was simply amazing, watching her body's reaction to him. It made him long to find out how it would be, to be fully inside her.

He kept up his ministrations, feeling her walls getting tighter and tighter. It was getting very intense, when a voice broke through their lustful haze. "I apologize for the interruption..." His soft growl was mirrored by Jane's moan of annoyance at the electronic voice from above. They both paused and turned their gaze to the room around them. "What is it EDI?" Jane's reply did not hide the loathing she had for the AI at the moment.

"I do not mean to interrupt, but I felt that you would like to be informed that John is currently on his way to your room. And he seems quite flustered." Jane sat up on her elbows quickly as she looked to Garrus. His eyes grew wide as they both knew that John could never find them in the state they were in now, even if he did know about the relationship.

"Thank you for letting us know, EDI." Garrus sighed slightly before leaning in to deliver one last kiss and thrust before pulling away from her completely. Jane moaned with desire at the movement, then in frustration as he pulled away. Moving slightly, she sat up and turned, so that her feet were pulled up on the edge of the couch so she could look them over. The nail polish was back in her hand as she went over Garrus's work.

It was slightly amusing to him to see her become so natural so quickly, maybe she had practice in this sort of situation. Garrus turned as well so that he was simply lounging in his seat, waiting for his friend to enter. And when he did, it was with quite an entrance.

The door had not fully opened before John was already speaking as fast as Garrus had ever heard him speak. "Jane, _she _is coming. I don't know how she found out where we were right now or why she decided to come now, but she is. She wants to look the ship over and make sure it is in perfect condition. Everyone needs to be dressed in their best. There is still so much left to do. Do you think there is time to completely wash down the entire ship?"

At this he turned to look at his sister who seemed slightly taken aback by her brothers sudden explosion. John however, seemed to suddenly take note of Garrus as he raised his brow at him. He was opening his mouth to say something, when Jane stood up and interrupted him.

"John, what the hell are you talking about?" John now turned and watched as Jane rose to her feet and moved over to her brother. Garrus took note of how she walked as if taking caution of her toes. It was a little funny to watch and he would have made a comment, if the situation would have been different. Instead he listened intently as John replied to his sister.

"Mother's ship is in the area. And she has requested to come aboard." The news seemed to be big, as Jane's face showed a great deal of surprise. Pausing, she seemed to think for a moment before she gave a nod.

"This is no longer an Alliance ship, nor are there any Alliance personnel onboard, technically. She has no say in how the ship operates. But still, we don't want her snubbing her nose at what you are doing." Turning away from him, Jane moved over towards the large window as she stared out into space, as if she could see her mothers ship coming.

Garrus had heard a great deal about Hannah Shepard when he had been on the Citadel. She was a captain of high standing and had made a name of herself, quite like her children. Having a father of higher ranking himself, he could understand the worry that came with said parent coming to the ship. Garrus let his eyes fall on Jane as she seemed to be lost in thought. What was she planning exactly? His question was answered as she turned and gave John a hard nod.

"Go up to your cabin, take a long shower. Once done, get dressed and ready to see mother. I will handle the rest." She smiled a reassuring smile as she moved over to clap her hands on his shoulders. "It will all be alright. Just breath and try to relax. You know she can smell fear." The siblings laughed at what Garrus could only assume was a joke. To his knowledge, humans had poor noses compared to other species. So it had to be something between the two.

Garrus watched as John gave his sister one last look before moving out of the room. As he did, Jane followed behind to tap the door controls. The green access panel quickly turned red, much to Garrus's interest. "Are you going to have your wicked way with me now?" He chuckled as she moved over to her trunk with a smile.

"If only we had time for that... But alas, I must help my brother dear. Maybe next time." She offered him a wink before she rose with what looked to be an Alliance uniform. Now Garrus was slightly confused. She locked the door but did not plan to continue where they had left off? What did this small human have in mind?

His mouth was open, ready to ask but the words died before they left his mouth. There before him, Jane was slowly raising the hem of her shirt up her body. He watched, amazed, as slowly her waist was being revealed to him. Her back was turned slightly so that he could not see all of her front. But he did have quite the view of her bare hips and lower back. As her arms were bringing the shirt over her face, his feet began to move to bring him right to her. Standing beside her, he placed his hands on her hips and pulled her so that she was now facing him.

He knew that her skin was smooth. He had felt quite a bit of her before. But now there was something new there. A sense of discovery as he began to run taloned hands over her bare flesh. No clothing to dart his hand under or to hide from his sight. She was bare to him from the waist up, beside the contraption that she called a bra blocking the large mounds of flesh he was starting to grow quite fond of.

As the shirt was removed and tossed to the side, one of her hands rose, to run along the side of his face. He could not fight the slight purr that echoed inside him, and damn if he tried. Her other hand moved to cover one of his on her waist. Slowly she began to lead him towards the clasp that held her shorts on.

It was here that he started to lose himself. This was far more intimate than anything that they had done yet. Sure there were kisses and the session just minutes before sure had been... well a good word would be steamy. It all was a feeling of lust. This was something more. It was desire. Pure and simple desire. He was slowly being driven crazy by how this small woman teased him so easily. All of the voices in him wanted to push her down and take her on the bed behind her. And Spirits he wanted to listen to them.

Moving his head down to the crook of her neck, he began to lavish her skin there with his tongue, giving her small nips inbetween. His hand moved to quickly remove the latch on the shorts. Once they were loose he pushed the fabric down her legs. They seemed to fall too slowly for his liking. So he moved his hand back up to join the other as they explored the exposed skin. Her hands now moved to the back of his head, one moving along his fringe while the other rubbed the lower part of his neck where it meet his cowl. Slowly the sensation was building and he was about to lose himself even more.

It was right when he was about to push her down onto the bed and take her with great passion, that she moved a hand to push him away slightly. A small whine slipped from him as he watched her step back. She smiled at him as she stepped towards the forgotten alliance uniform behind her. "Before this goes any further we must stop... As I said, I must help my brother dear..."

He let out a small groan as he knew she was right. But Spirits be damned, he didn't want her to be. A soft sigh left him as he watched her gather the pants of the uniform in her hands. A tease. Pure and simple. She was a goddess of teasing and damn the galaxy if he didn't love it.

His mind was swayed slightly as she held her pants out to him. Not sure what she wanted of him, he took the offered clothing. His mandibles twitched in uncertainty as he looked up to her. A soft giggle emitted from her as she gave a tilt of her head. "Help me get dressed?" Realisation dawned on him as he knelt down to offer the pant leg holes to her. As she used his back to steady herself a thought occurred to Garrus. A way to tease her back for the way she had just teased him. A little bit of payback. Sure, her teasing very well could have been a bit of payback for the way she had been so close to climax but denied that release at the last second by the interruption of John. But Garrus was never really a fan of being tied.

As slowly as she had stripped the shirt moments before, he now pulled the pants up her legs at the same pace. Leaning in, he began to run his tongue along the inside of one of her legs as he raised her pants. A small gasp from her and a tighter grip on his back were quite the reward for his actions. As he rose higher and higher, her breath began to hitch and came out in small gasping breaths. When he reached her core, her pants were just a few inches below. Holding her pants with one hand, he moved the other to the small of her back so that she could not squirm away from his next action.

Just a few moments earlier he had put his fingers in her for the first time. It had been the first time inside of a human woman. But her smell had always been something that he found interesting. And on more than one occasion, even before they were officially together, he wondered what she would taste like. Now he planned to find out. Even if it was just for a short time.

His tongue darted in and ran the length of her core over the thin fabric barrier. He could feel her go almost limp in his grip. Mandibles twitching in a smile, he repeated the action. Her smell was so overpowering at this distance and he craved her even more. The hand that held her pants continued to grasp them as one of his talons moved to pull the fabric out of the way of his assault.

And assault he did. Right away he dove in to begin to lap at her folds, tasting the sweet juices that leaked from her. Spirits help him, she was like candy. Like a treat that he could never get enough of. Moving in closer he drove his tongue deep into her folds, moving so that he could run the tip along the beginning of her inner walls.

Her grasp on him tightened even more as her head arched back. Soft moans were pulled from her chest, his named tied in the gasps in some locations. Oh, how this woman could make him feel like a god with the way he made her react. He wanted more. So much more. But he slowly remembered the purpose. Leave her feeling teased and wanting more, as she had left him.

Though his plan seemed to have backfired a little.

Pulling away from her, he let the fabric move back into place before raising the pants the rest of the way up and over her hips. As he rose to stand once more she was panting in short breaths, her body resting against him. A small fist hit his chest lazily as she pulled back to look up at him. "You are one wicked, wicked man..."

He chuckled, as he moved in to rub his face beside hers before moving back to rest his forehead against hers. "Only returning the wickedness received..." A large smile rose to her lips as she let her eyes drift shut, enjoying his closeness. Once she seemed to regain control of herself, she moved in to plant a small kiss on the bridge of his nose before pulling away. Moving to the bed, she picked up the undershirt she would be wearing before glancing to him.

"With that, you might want to clean up a little. It would be quite odd if you met my mother smelling like... well like sex pretty much." He joined her in a small laugh before he began to move towards the door.

"Then I will see you on the bridge?" He asked. She offered him a nod as she began to pull the shirt over her head. Hiding the wonderful flesh he had just been exploring. Turning, he unlocked the door and made his way to the restroom just down the hall to freshen up.

It seemed Jane had spread the word quite well. As he reached the bridge, the crew and the landing party were all lined up chatting amongst themselves. Moving up the line of people his eyes found Jane and John both standing in front of the airlock, talking between themselves. As he moved up to them, Jane offered a grin to him as her eyes met his, before returning to her brother.

Garrus had known John for quite a long time now. And he had seen John talk down a reaper with not so much of a flinch. But if he didn't know any better he would say John was terrified right now. Afraid of his mother? That only caused Garrus to grow slightly tense. If John was afraid, then dear Spirits what kind of woman was his mother?

It seemed his question would be answered soon enough. From the cockpit Joker turned, so that he could look at the group behind them. "We have incoming, Commander. Their docking clamp is preparing to attach to the airlock." John could only offer a short nod as his eyes never left the airlock. Jane moved to stand at his side, Garrus moving to her other side. Leaning slightly, he stood so that their hands were almost touching. Not enough for anyone to notice. But enough for Jane. Her eyes moved up to his once more, as a smile rose to her face. A small twitch of her hand caused her to caress his slightly.

It was at that moment that the ship gave a small moan and hiss as the docking port attached itself to the hull. It was only a few minutes later that the airlock opened. Beside him, he felt Jane go tense and he saw John stand up straighter. As the figures began to emerge, John called out to the people down the line, "Attention! Captain on board!"


End file.
